Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber to resume the discussion on Project Ireland 2040. When Senator Coffey made his contribution, I was very much reminded of mistakes that I am aware of in County Roscommon with regard to poor planning. I live very near an unfinished housing estate that is a terrible legacy of the Celtic tiger.It involves houses that were poorly built, ten of which were knocked down, using resolution funding, at a cost of €250,000. Also included were houses built where there was no joined-up thinking on where people would work or how they could be part of a community. I never want to see mistakes like that repeated. It is very much a wake-up call. We need to plan properly to ensure we have houses of good quality built in the right places. We need to plan for excellent infrastructure and good employment opportunities.

I was one of those who expressed considerable concern over the draft national planning framework in regard to the importance of including regional hubs. I was very happy to see the inclusion of Athlone and Sligo in the final Project Ireland 2040 plan. It is critical that we have regional hubs to support more balanced regional development and, in the case of the west and north west, offset the pressure on Galway city. When I say that, I speak about a visit by the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, to Ballinasloe last Friday week. Ballinasloe is a town with great potential. It has very good examples of excellent infrastructure. It has two exits off the M6. It has excellent community, sports and educational facilities. It has an IDA business park with excellent potential. Two flagship companies, Aptar and Surmodics Medical, are located there. Ballinasloe, however, needs to be properly supported by our agencies, including the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and local enterprise offices to ensure some of the pressure on Galway city is offset. We do not want Ballinasloe to become a town of commuters working in Galway when it has excellent facilities and untapped potential in its IDA business park. The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, visited last Friday week in respect of an application made by a community group, Ballinasloe Area Community Development Company Limited, which has applied for planning permission for an advance facility. There should be more emphasis on this by the IDA and we should not be leaving it to community organisations to apply for planning permission. We certainly need more proactivity in respect of those employment agencies. The foundation for maintaining strong communities is access to employment. We need to work on the untapped potential in Ballinasloe.

It is important that we see delivery on the M5. I acknowledge it is part of Project Ireland 2040. It is critical that there be capital investment in the N5 between Ballaghaderreen and Scramogue. In the term of the last Government, the Ballaghaderreen bypass was delivered. There are considerable challenges owing to unsafe roads and excessive volumes of traffic going through the likes of Frenchpark, Bellanagare, Tulsk and Strokestown. It is critical that there be investment to make our roads safer, reduce travel times and make us more efficient and capable of competing with other areas right across the country.

Similarly, businesses need reliable high-speed broadband to trade online, gain access to consumers, and market services and products. It is critical that rural broadband be delivered.

I want to speak about the delivery of a rehabilitation unit for Roscommon hospital. This is mentioned in Project Ireland 2040. Some €7.85 million is being allocated for the project. It is critical that we see it delivered as quickly as possible. I know from having worked in the health services, particularly in the area of rehabilitation, that people need access to timely specialist rehabilitation. It will be very important to serve the people of the west and to act as a satellite centre of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire.