Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will give my personal view based on real experience in Dublin. In 2018, we came very close to drought in Dublin. There is undoubtedly a real issue with water supply in Dublin. I was in Shannon and Ennis last week and I also have long held the view that we need better balanced regional development. A lot of water use is industrial. People do not see it or notice it, but it is huge. If that is where the water is, would we not move industry there, rather than shipping everything somewhere else? There is imbalance in this country. I mentioned earlier that 97% of roll-on roll-off traffic comes in through Dublin Port and 95% of air passengers come through Dublin Airport. Some 75% of new houses are in the greater Dublin area, that is, Dublin and surrounding counties from where people are commuting into Dublin. This is not working for Dublin or the rest of the country. The biggest problem in Clare and Shannon is water. We cannot build houses in Clare because Irish Water is not investing in towns and villages there which would be perfect to build in. I would bring the jobs west.

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