Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too am disappointed with the Minister's response. This is a no-brainer. Things are different at the moment because of Covid, but before the pandemic one could not travel or get accommodation in the cities. We see the homelessness crisis and the other pressures. This is the case in many of our big cities but the capital is completely bogged down. We need supports to allow people to live and work in the country, at least on a blended working basis.

With regard to Project Ireland 2040, the county development plan for Tipperary is being reviewed at the moment. I am shocked to see what is happening in this regard. Dealing with this plan has always been a prerogative of the council but there is now oversight from a new agency which has been set up. The name of it will come to me. This agency can reject what the council decides. We need a recalibration in respect of what is going on in our country. It is totally ham-fisted and unsustainable. The EU is right to be concerned about it because we are worst of all.

There are population explosions in this city and other cities. Additional schools and hospitals are being built, for example, the children's hospital, but we in the country cannot get access. Under our Constitution, country people are entitled to eke out a living as well as those living in the major cities. I see constant encroachment, for example, with regard to the county development plan. We were hoping to have Project Ireland 2040 reviewed. Whatever the elected councillors in Tipperary decide can now be vetoed by this new set-up in Dublin. We are back to the time of Cromwell; to hell or to Connacht. We do not want to go to hell and we do not necessarily want to go to Connacht. We want to stay in Munster-----

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