Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This motion is about ensuring we establish a proper infrastructure throughout rural Ireland in order that people can function and live to their full potential. Due to the failure of past and current Governments, that is simply not the case. The western rail corridor is one of the key infrastructure projects which needs to be delivered for the west of Ireland to ensure it can be competitive and bring industry, commerce and productivity back into that region and yet the Government continues to turn its face against it. The transport infrastructure policy of this Government needs to have a clear focus on delivering the western rail corridor. That needs to happen as an absolute priority. Buses and where our bus network throughout the country has huge problems continues to have issues.

Fortunately, County Leitrim has been part of a recent pilot project with the Local Link where we have improvement in the number of buses on the roads, connecting all our small towns and villages into Carrick-on-Shannon, Sligo and other areas and more people are using them. It proves the point that if infrastructure is put in place, people will use that and ensure it is delivered. Government continues, and this has been a policy for many years, to put pilot projects in place, prove they work and then pull them and put them nowhere else. We have seen that happen time and again. We want to make sure that does not happen in this context and the work that has been done on the Local Link project is spread throughout the entire country and expanded upon, because, that is what needs to happen.

I also want to raise the issue of school bus transport, which has been an almost continuous yearly issue in that children are left standing along the side of the road who cannot get a bus to school. Absolutely key for people living in rural areas is making sure they have transport to send their children to school in every part of the country, not just in some select areas, which seems to be the policy of this Government up until now.

The other issue I will raise is aviation and specifically Ireland West Airport. The local authorities throughout the west have come together to put money aside to try to help develop Knock airport because it is key strategic infrastructure that needs to be developed to develop the west and ensure the potential of the people in the west is there for future generations. Unfortunately, the Government continues to put all its emphasis on a few small areas, mainly in the capital city. We see today the Government is pulling what money it was going to deliver, even for the capital city. A huge problem we have continuously highlighted is of people in rural Ireland needing to get fair play and it must be ensured that they are delivered some sense of that. Key to all of this is having adequate infrastructure in place. The national development plan is full of promises but little hope for the people who want to get delivery of all of these projects.

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