Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The Government tells us we are to have an outdoor summer, which is very important for wellness, but over a year into a pandemic the outdoor public facilities are still entirely inadequate. I will give an example. In the South Dublin County Council area there are many beautiful parks, but the bins are overflowing, there are very few spaces for people to sit with friends and family and there are almost no toilets.

People are suffering from an underinvestment in facilities and in staff to take care of them. Last year, the Government gave an extra €80,000 to South Dublin County Council to pay for extra parks, a completely paltry figure. Are we going to get the investment we need in the South Dublin County Council area and across the country to ensure that we can have bins, public seating, accessible toilets, water fountains, proper lighting and outdoor gym facilities? That is the investment we urgently need now if we are to have this outdoor summer.

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