Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)

I thank my colleague Deputy Ó Broin for his work on this motion. Right across counties Carlow and Kilkenny, we have towns and villages crying out for an increase in housing. These towns and villages have prime sites for housing developments that are unusable simply because the Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has failed to invest in adequate and fit-for-purpose infrastructure. It is common sense to plan for the future, but this has clearly not been the case across County Kilkenny when it comes to water and sewage treatment infrastructure. Castlecomer, a community of more than 2,000 people, does not even have adequate access to fresh water. Boil notices and water restrictions are a common occurrence. How is this acceptable in 2025? Bennettsbridge is the next town with works planned to upgrade infrastructure but it will be more than four years until these works even begin.

Communities across south Kilkenny, like my own village of Knocktopher, as well as Ballyhale and Mullinavat, have no planned works to upgrade local infrastructure. Simply put, this means no new housing developments being built in the coming years. This is crippling these communities and impacting everything from schools to shops to local sports teams. People there do not want to move and leave they communities they were raised in, but they are being pushed out as a result of decades of underinvestment across rural Ireland. We need to see a step change from this Government, with no more passing of the blame around. It is time this Government set out a clear plan for increased investment in water, electricity and sewage infrastructure and a plan that has the resources behind it to ensure it is fully implemented.

7 o’clock

I am afraid, as things stand, that there will be no housing targets. This has to be looked at.

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