Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Minister of State for his reply. I took some notes on what the Minister of State said and while the amount of investment is welcome, it does not seem to be translating into any proposed developments for the towns and villages I mentioned. Is Castlegregory going to have to wait? When the Fenit project was announced last year, it said it was a five-year programme. Is that programme still going ahead? Does the Minister of State have any information about that? If he does not have the information here perhaps he will get it to me. Is that programme still on track for Fenit?

The Minister of State mentioned €100 million for 37 projects in 27 local authority areas. With the small towns and villages programme, it seems there are only two proposed for Kerry. I do not believe this is enough in a county that suffers from peripherality. The programme for Government is supposed to enhance the small smaller towns and villages to bring people in, to move away from one-off rural development and bring people into villages. There seems to be a complete contradiction between what is in the programme for Government and what is being delivered on the ground. Nothing has been delivered on the ground for the people in Glenbeigh, Abbeydorney, Duagh and Rathmore. There seems to be a lot of money invested but if I had my way it would be given back to Kerry County Council which could co-ordinate the whole project. Water services in the county were moved to a specific place in Castleisland. Expertise was built up over many years and was in one place, but now there is too much pulling and dragging. There does not seem to be a co-ordinated approach. It is deeply frustrating for the people who are in those villages, for those who cannot develop and for those who cannot move back from the cities given the opportunities now for remote working. That is being hindered by the lack of investment in those places.

See this speech in context