Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is mór an phribhléid í dom seasamh anseo mar ionadaí tofa do mhuintir Phort Láirge agus labhairt ar a son. Táim fíorbhuíoch de gach uile dhuine a thug tacaíocht dom san olltoghchán agus déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall gach uile lá chun freastal ar an dúshlán agus ar an bhfreagracht mhór a tugadh dom. Beidh mé buíoch i gcónaí de mo bhean chéile, mo pháistí, mo chlann agus mo chomrádaithe.

It is a great honour for me to speak here this evening for the first time as a Teachta Dála for Waterford. I want to thank my wife and children, my family, my supporters and my comrades in Sinn Féin for their support. I am deeply grateful to the people of Waterford for placing their trust in me in the election two months ago. I will work every single day to advance their interests and to fulfil the mandate they have given me. As a new TD and somebody who is raising a young family, my focus is very much on the future. However, I take great inspiration from my predecessors and heroes, two republican activists, Cathal Brugha and Caitlín Brugha, who served as Sinn Féin TDs for County Waterford a century ago.

A decade of neglect has left many of our public services under-resourced and on the back foot. This is particularly true of local authorities, which have yet to recover from the austerity measures that saw central government funding and staffing levels cut to the bone. The decisions of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in various configurations over recent years have left communities across Ireland extremely vulnerable to severe weather events. The neglect by the Government stands in stark contrast to the huge effort we see from council staff, emergency personnel, GPs and their surgeries, public health nurses, community pharmacists, postmasters and their staff, ESB personnel, Civil Defence, community volunteers, Defence Forces personnel, farmers and small local businesses. Time and again we see the value of their service and we owe them our thanks. Storm Éowyn and other recent storms, from Eunice, to Babet, Darragh and more have exposed the inadequate levels of funding in investment for essential public services and infrastructure. Lives and livelihoods are put at risk across Ireland due to the negligence and indifference of successive governments that have been unwilling to look beyond the Pale. Our councils are not adequately resourced. Every storm that comes our way, with increasing frequency and ferocity, exposes the shortcomings in infrastructure investment in our rural communities. The people I represent feel forgotten and left behind. Take the town of Tallow in my own constituency, where people whose homes and businesses were flooded during Storm Babet in 2023 have yet to see any movement from the OPW on works to prevent further occurrences.

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