Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister hit the nail on the head. That is the point I was making. We want people to be able to stay there. The vast majority of people in Balbriggan who are of working age and employed leave. They leave in the morning to go to work. They are not employed locally. There is an issue with underemployment that the Minister will be aware of. Even the report refers to towns like Balbriggan, Rush and Lusk, and my own town of Skerries, as commuter towns. That irks me a little because it makes them sound like places where people go to sleep, but there are actually living, breathing, thriving communities there. A little more inward investment is needed. It is unfortunate that the Government did not put in place more robust access to remote working for people, because that would have driven much growth of hubs locally. They are somewhat underutilised. I welcome the engagement. Transport-driven initiatives are important but we also need to look at those initiatives which mean that people do not need to access public transport and can walk or cycle to work.

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