Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin has brought this motion before the House because rural Ireland is sick and tired of being paid lip service. Rural communities have been dismissed by Government for far too long. The days of the development plans being used for Dáil re-election must end now. During my time in the Dáil, I have constantly made representations about the shortcomings of our public transport links, but what actions have been taken? Has the timetable between Limerick Junction and Waterford been adjusted? No, it has not. Has the same been done for the Ballybrophy line? No. Has the X12 service been restored for Roscrea and Nenagh? No, it has not. Does the Minister for Transport have any intention of stopping rolling work closures on the Ballybrophy line, in favour of getting the job done in one go? No, he does not. Indeed, he did not even give me his views on the matter when I asked in a parliamentary question. When announcing the connecting Ireland rural transport plan recently, we were told the new standard for rural bus services is at least three return trips per day. Why does this standard not apply to the north and south Tipperary rural rail lines?

People in rural Ireland continue to face the same old struggles to do business and travel to work or education or even hospitals and yet as much attention was given in the national development plan to plans to extract water from the Shannon as was given to any projects for my county. That says much about this Government. Deputies such as I may stand here and outline what our constituents and rural businesses need, but this Government persistently ignores our citizens.

We see the Government clapping itself on the back for its plans to reduce emissions by freeing up town centres. Try convincing the people of Tipperary town of its concerns. There was no mention of the need for a bypass of Tipperary town in the national development plan, despite it constantly being raised in this House. We just saw the N24 project being relegated to subject to approval status. This is hardly a ringing endorsement of the project. We need clarity on this and on all the projects alluded to in the national development plan.

These are just some of the reasons we needed to bring forward this motion. Rural Ireland needs a balanced approach to development that helps our towns, villages and rural communities and listens to them. In this Bill, we propose a statutory requirement that all Departments and public bodies will undertake rural impact assessments on measures that have a socioeconomic impact on rural Ireland. We need this Government to come clean with people, instead of delaying matters under the guise of glossy brochures and we ask it to support this motion.

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