Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and I welcome this. I want to ask about Ballina and Westport. I know the Minister of State will agree that projects take a very long time. Is there some way they can be streamlined? I know everything has to go through environmental impact assessments but people's lives are being left on hold while all of these things are happening. There cannot be development in the town. There is a real opportunity cost here in terms of developments not being able to go ahead, businesses not been able to expand and people waiting all the time for the next flood when their properties will be damaged and worse. It is holding back growth in small towns such as Ballina, Westport and Crossmolina until we get the projects done. We really must look after this core infrastructure. Otherwise the other development cannot happen.

See this speech in context