Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply so far. Again, I want to make it clear that this scheme was suspended for five years from 2012 to 2017, which is why we have a savage amount of applications now. Some 697 applications are still waiting to get funding. Many of these have been waiting since 2007. I appeal to the Taoiseach. The amount of money we got last year was something in the region of €700,000. That is not enough. Like I said, if we continue in that vein of doing ten roads each year, it will take us 70 years to exhaust the list. That is not fair on these people. They are good, honest, hard-working people who are trying to exist where their fathers before them lived. They want to continue living in these places. They are, however, entitled to a good surface on their road, the same as the people in Dublin 4 are getting. These people should not be left behind. They contribute to this scheme. They pay 20% of the cost and the Department has always made up 80% of it. Do not let these people in rural Ireland down. They vote for the Taoiseach as well as everyone else. I am appealing to him. These people need to be seen after and we need four times the amount of money we got last year to keep up.

See this speech in context