Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Deputy Leader. I also welcome the official opening today in County Mayo of the new 25 km stretch of the N5 from Westport to Castlebar. It is part of a €250 million investment and, as I said, it runs from Westport to east of Castlebar, with 20 km of dual carriageway and 5 km of single carriageway. I acknowledge the work of the former Minister, my colleague, Deputy Michael Ring, in advocating for and pushing for that road. We all believe in balanced regional development and this is the perfect example of rural improvements between two major towns in County Mayo. Investment in road infrastructure, as well as assisting economic development, also improves safety for road users, which is very important. It is a point that perhaps those who are against roads do not always acknowledge. I call for a debate on road developments in this country.

On a second point, I acknowledge the comments of the Taoiseach during the week on the improved terms and conditions for retained firefighters and also that the offer has been made of a 20% increase in staffing and more structured time off. I hope this allows both sides to re-engage on a very important issue. We all acknowledge the work of our retained fire personnel in the difficult, dangerous, physically challenging and demanding job they have to do. In particular, it is psychologically demanding in that they come across road traffic collisions and fires that can impact on life, so they come across some very stressful and difficult situations. The review that was carried out in conjunction with the fire personnel initiated a number of recommendations. I hope they can be fulfilled by the Government over the coming period.