Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As this is my first time to speak, I wish the Cathaoirleach well in his role. I also congratulate the Leader. I welcome the students from Ardscoil Phádraig in Granard. It is in my own local area and there are a number of students from my own local village. I see a number of students that I met at the young scientist exhibition last week in the RDS. I see Jack in the back row. I have been on the board of management of the school since I was first elected in 2009. It is an excellent school and educational institute. It has fantastic teachers. Their teacher, Ms Orlaith McLoughlin, is with them. I wish them well and hope they enjoy their day in Leinster House.

I wish to raise a couple of issue, one of which the Leader would be very familiar with. Every week, coming from Mayo up and down to Dublin, she travels on the N4. There were comments made by the Minister for Transport only in the past number of days on the funding for the motorway from Mullingar to Roosky, through County Longford. I have always highlighted that we need balanced regional development in the country. It is the one missing link from the regions back into our capital city. There were quite negative comments with regard to that project, which is at a stage of an emerging preferred route. I would like that issue highlighted. We need the funding put in place to keep that project going to a full planning permission stage so that when the significant resources that are needed to develop that motorway are in place, we have all that work done and we do not have a situation where it is knocked off the national development plan. It is extremely important. The Minister needs to come in and identify which projects will be funded going forward.

I raise the issue of affordable housing. We have Housing for All but, unfortunately, it is not housing for all. There are a certain number of counties that are not eligible for some of the schemes. One of them in particular is affordable housing. We have no affordable housing in our county. It is a massive need for people living in my home area, yet we are not eligible for it.