Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I made submissions to the plan. While I was writing to the Minister I got to thinking about what Athlone had to offer. Among these elements are projects that were delivered to the town by previous Athlone town councils. I served on the town council, as did my late sister and my father before me. Through the years, Athlone town councils, made up of all parties and none, set aside money in the budget every year in order to have funding to match that coming from the Government to develop projects in the town. Over a number of years, we have built an amazing regional sports centre, a Luan Gallery on the banks of the river that is second to none and an interpretive centre in the castle. All these are fantastic projects and they are just to name a few. We have also contributed money to the fantastic sports facilities in Athlone Institute of Technology.

If Athlone is to reach its potential as a regional centre, perhaps we must consider reinstating a local authority. The terms of reference of the local electoral area boundary committee are such that towns like Sligo, Dundalk and Drogheda, which were also given a designation in the plan, would be designated as municipal borough districts. It is clear to me that the logic of the role identified for Athlone suggests that the town should be designated as a municipal borough district. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, to come to the House. As Senator Coffey mentioned, we should have a debate on Project Ireland 2040 to iron out such issues.

The role of Athlone has changed since the terms of reference of the local electoral area boundary committee were defined and the entire settlement of Athlone should be designated as a municipal borough council. I ask the Leader to suggest this to the Minister and perhaps we could have a debate on it in the House. It could be based in the civic offices in Athlone, as opposed to the county buildings in Mullingar.