Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was glad the Minister of State referenced those four centres. I would describe them as one relatively large centre and three small centres. They are full. Sandyford Community Centre is directly across the road from the estate on which I live. Not only is it full for all the services provided but the services - the Montessori school, yoga class, active retirement group - are all full too. In fact, they have a massive waiting list. The biggest issue is that the car park is now full because it is between a national school and a number of shops.

The population of a constituency such as Dublin Rathdown, which is similar to the Minister of State's constituency, is going to explode, with approximately 5,000 homes being built over the next year or two. We are not talking about the distant future. We need to see large-scale investment. I appeal for foresight to consider not just at rural areas and towns and villages, but particularly suburban areas with massive housing states, which do not particularly have that central town identifier, and funding in that regard.

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