Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, my constituency colleague, Deputy Troy. I commend him on his very positive input into what is a progressive budget. We have spoken on many of the macro points in the budget but all politics is local and I want to look at it on a more micro level and highlight some of the issues as they continue to pertain to Longford. We would have preferred to see some indication on the continuation of the N4 project, in keeping with the ambitious €19 billion capital investment. However, I welcome the announcement by the Minister that detailed specific projects to be delivered in 2026 will be announced shortly, with the sectoral investment plans for the next five years to be published by the various Departments. It is important that this features the N4 and that we see an escalation of the funding process.

I am pleased the Minister has confirmed the infrastructure task force will report next month and publish a detailed action plan to tackle barriers to developing critical infrastructure. Beyond the N4, which I have mentioned, it is also critical that we seek positive and definitive timelines for the delivery of water treatment plants for the towns of Granard and Edgeworthstown.

I welcome the additional funding for IDA Ireland, which is at the front line of delivering critical FDI investment and jobs to the country. It is critical that it follows through on plans for an advance factory in Longford town. We have had notable successes with FDI employers in Longford through Abbott, Avery Dennison and Technimark. Another FDI firm, with more than 200 jobs to start with, is critical for the future growth and development of Longford town.

The stand-out disappointment for the people of Longford is the failure to see a commitment for additional funding for family resource centres, FRCs, in budget 2026. I fought tooth and nail in the lifetime of the previous Dáil to get funding for additional FRCs in the previous budget. I commend the former Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, who followed through on the commitment and delivered the funding. A total of 49 local areas applied for funding. Tusla whittled it down to a shortlist of 15 and the Minister was able to approve funding for five of them. Unfortunately, they did not include Longford. As a follow-on to this I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Foley, who is committed to visiting Longford in the coming weeks. I will impress upon her the savage inequality and socioeconomic challenges we face in Longford, and the critical need for an FRC in Longford town. I will ask her to look at a mechanism to allow the Longford committee to reapply and, hopefully, be included in the next tranche of funding.

It has been a positive budget for sport, certainly for the GAA. It is great to see the Government follow through on a commitment to support FAI grassroots soccer. I am also delighted to see a commitment for a further round of the community sports facility fund, which we used to know as the sports capital grant. It has been a huge win for regional Ireland and it is great to see it. I hope it will follow through in 2026. Significant also is an additional increase of €18 million for the large scale sports infrastructure fund. This is timely for Longford GAA, which is planning a major development at the Pearse Park grounds. I attended the Glennon Brothers fundraiser in Croke Park last Friday. They, as the team sponsors, and the new chair of the county board, Derek Fahy, are very enthused about the project. This funding is coming at a critical time for them.

Another source of worry is the absence of a commitment on the further delivery of primary healthcare centres. The budget acknowledged the recent delivery and roll-out of 180 new primary care centres but it is notable I did not see any commitment for additional centres. This is a source of concern for Edgeworthstown, Granard and Longford town, where plans were advancing for these centres. I would welcome some clarity on this. There is no mention of a minor injury unit for Longford, or for any location nationally. It reminds me of 2018 when the then Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, rolled into Longford and said it would be the centre for a brain injury unit which would quickly follow. However, subsequently the HSE told us it never featured in its plans.

I have one more point to make relating to our constituency colleague, the Minister, Deputy Burke. Recently he spoke at length about artificial intelligence and committed to delivering an artificial intelligence national office. It is good to see €1.4 million in funding for this. It will be a focal point for the promotion and adoption of transparent and safe AI in Ireland. Longford County Council has long been vying to develop the Providers building in Longford town. It would be a stand-out building for such a facility and I hope the Minister, as it is in his grasp and ability to deliver, will engage with Longford County Council and look to develop and deliver this project for Longford.