Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes people forget just how diverse Dublin is. It is not all city, although that is a significant part of the county. North County Dublin covers a huge area and it has some significant towns in Swords, Balbriggan, Skerries, where I live, Rush and Lusk to name a few. These towns are different. They have their own characteristics and charms and they are all unique in their differences and needs. Around many of these towns are the coast and farming lands. In many ways, north County Dublin is the same as most of the regional counties and areas that Members are elected from.

In Swords, for example, one of the greatest problems we have with development is a lack of school places at primary and secondary levels. School planning is one of the most straightforward and easy things to get right, but across north County Dublin it has been a disaster. I have often said in the Chamber and to local people that as sure as night follows day, if houses are built and young families move in, one can bet that children will follow and they will need to go to school. I do not know why the Department of Education continually gets surprised that the kids who are in primary school will find themselves needing to go to secondary school. As I said, as sure as night follows day, that will happen and yet, year after year, I find myself engaging with the Department and the Minister for Education to advise that yet again we have a problem. We have children who go to feeder schools and they are denied access to the secondary schools of their choice because of the lack of places. Those who cannot get into those feeder schools are on the back foot from the beginning. The damage and difficulty this is causing to children and their families is untold.

Other issues that need to be addressed across Swords are broadband, connectivity and better transport infrastructure. Many people in Swords, when we are not in a pandemic, travel to Dublin city centre for work. These workers can end up sitting on buses for more than an hour to get into the city due to congestion on our roads and the lack of a rail link. In some instances, we see there are not even enough buses for them. The problem many of these workers are facing, as they work from home, is a lack of broadband infrastructure. Despite being a huge town, there are many areas of Swords that do not have decent broadband. If we want to see community and regional development, this matter has to be addressed.

Balbriggan also has many of the Internet connectivity and transport issues mentioned above. We have a train into Dublin city centre but the town should be connected by the DART. Bringing the DART out to Balbriggan would open up the town and provide so many opportunities and benefits for workers and those living there. The bridges were raised more than ten years ago to facilitate the DART and yet we are still waiting. Balbriggan also needs a lot of investment in community and sports facilities. There is a huge young and diverse population in Balbriggan. It is what makes the town great. However, these young people need resources to keep them engaged and occupied. Whenever I speak to people in Balbriggan, they often point across Dublin Bay and they say that people want for little in other parts of County Dublin. In many ways, this is true and the town needs investment. We need more floodlit Astroturf football, GAA and rugby pitches. We need funding for boxing and mixed martial arts. We need investment for our great football, GAA, rugby and cricket teams.

Doubtless the growth in north County Dublin brings the difficulties that I am sure are present in all of our big towns across the State. Towns clearly need more gardaí and these resources have long been needed. We need to see gardaí on the streets and we also need to see a different form of policing, not the old traditional type. Balbriggan is a diverse town and the police force there needs to reflect that diversity. In my town of Skerries we badly need an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit for a secondary school, and again this is something that is very predictable but for some reason is not addressed. In Rush, Lusk, Donabate, Malahide, Portmarnock and other areas, the needs are broadly similar. Investment in broadband connectivity and increased public transport investment, particularly in rail, would be transformative. There are places such as parts of Balrothery, Seaview Park, Tower View Heights and the Burrow area around Portrane that are almost broadband black spots. If we want community and regional development, these areas need that connectivity.

As with other areas, school places and additional investment in sports and community facilities would be of huge benefit to towns such as Rush, Lusk, Donabate, Malahide and Portmarnock, but it is about matching investment and resources to population growth. It is not rocket science. If large housing estates are built and young families are moved in, as sure as night follows day crèches, schools and pitches will be needed. For some reason, we seem always to be playing catch-up in north County Dublin and that is not good enough. People deserve to have that level of respect and investment.

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