Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. It is incredible that on the day the national development plan was launched, we were told by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, that there were projects included in it that will never be delivered. That made sense, however, to any of us who read it, given that it provided for €5.1 billion for new roads, €800 million of which was already committed to roads at construction, but there was a long list of 30-odd projects at a cost of approximately €1 billion each. We could see straight away that the numbers did not add up. Despite this, two days later, to appease disgruntled backbenchers, we were told by the Taoiseach that there were things not included in the plan that would be delivered. That said it all. It is exactly what one gets when there is a coalition pulling in different directions and for different reasons. It was clear the Government could not agree what needed to come out of the plan, so nothing came out of the plan. It was a charade and an embarrassment and it would be a joke if it were not so serious.

There is any number of reasons that the NDP is hugely important. It should be a statement of the commitment of the State to lead in delivering balanced regional development and strategic development. There is an important point that has not been picked up on in the debate, namely, that there seems to be a dangerous shift in decision-making processes. Instead of trying to create an overarching plan in a logical way, there is a shift to a kind of survival-of-the-fittest strategy. We are told projects will proceed on the basis of which of them get through planning and reach the starting line, or the famous decision-making gates, first. It will be very difficult in this scenario to provide a counterbalance to the already dominant regions.

I could say more about rail and roads provision but there is not time. The plan is not good enough. The Government has a second chance to get it right by supporting the Sinn Féin motion.

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