Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I welcome the Bill and the issues that have been raised.

We are all aware of the shortage of family homes around the country. Planning permission for 365 new houses and apartments has been granted in Trim, which I welcome. However, we are repeating the mistakes of previous Governments during the Celtic tiger. For the past five years, the area has struggled with high numbers of people seeking places in schools which are oversubscribed. I was on a board of management in St. Mary's primary school where some 60 children could not be accommodated. Thankfully, an Educate Together school was established in the same year and took 20 or 25 children.

The sewage and water plant is 35 years old and is in need of investment. Unfortunately, the €1.3 million promised last year by Irish Water has since gone into the blue lagoon and we are back to square one. Raw sewage is leaking in five different locations in the town. This issue does not affect Trim alone; I could bring the Minister to several villages and towns in south County Meath where there are serious sewage and water problems. Last week, the main pipe in the centre of the town burst, leaving parts of south Meath, including surrounding villages, without water for 24 hours. The story made the front page of the local newspaper because there was a lake in the middle of the town.

Parts of the Bill are welcome but I firmly believe that local authorities and planning offices are not building infrastructure before making planning decisions. During the Celtic tiger, major mistakes were made. No schools were built, water services installed or facilities provided for the youth who came to live in the new houses. To this day, the decisions that were made have been catastrophic in the greater suburbs of Dublin in County Meath where there was major population growth.

I would like a strategic infrastructure department to be established in local authorities. When infrastructure is put in place, we can move forward with proper planning. I would like the Minister to clarify how infrastructure can be improved for large-scale developments and what measures he will put in place to address this.