Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Rural decline is a genuine concern for many communities. We have all heard of GP clinics closing because of the inability to attract GPs to rural areas. A case of this in County Tipperary has gained national attention as being symptomatic of a national problem. We have heard farmers speak of their concerns for the future, while investment in some rural towns and villages is seen as effectively being on the back burner. Tackling depopulation to ensure that we sustain communities is a focus of Sinn Féin. Ensuring new county development plans must have detailed local strategies based on the housing need demand assessments is crucial to this. Delivery can involve the better use of vacant and derelict buildings and land zoned for residential development in the countryside, villages and towns. We also need to adapt in order to be able to provide suitable, safe, long-life housing that can be constructed relatively quickly and can help to address our housing demands. Furthermore, we have called for the introduction of emergency planning and procurement powers, the utilisation of modern building technologies on vacant buildings, and to deliver on modular homes. This is key to maintaining and enhancing the primacy of rural areas and their ability to prosper.

When we talk about planning, we must also consider the manner in which roads are laid out. I previously raised the matter of Ardfinnan bridge. In May 2018, An Bord Pleanála, the planning inspector, ruled that a one-way system on the bridge did not comply with the minimum requirements of the design manual for urban roads and streets and would not result in an appropriate level of pedestrian safety on the bridge. Funding was secured to carry out an options assessment report, which concluded that the preferred option include an independent footbridge. However, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has now formally dismissed that report and removed this project from the 2023 programme. This is an example of how community concerns can be dismissed and actions taken that are not in the interest of locals and the preferred layout of a key feature for the community. I call on the Minister for Transport to give attention to this development and engage with the NTA and the people of Ardfinnan and Ardfinnan Community Council.

We all agree with clusters in villages and small towns but the Government must be realistic. No one will go back into small towns and villages unless it puts services in place that will keep the GP, post office, butcher and pub. No young families will move to rural Ireland to these clusters unless those services are there. The Government needs to wake up and make sure those services are provided in those clusters.

See this speech in context