Brian Stanley urges funding for Leish roads and water

Yesterday we had the publication of the National Development Plan Review 2025, Securing Ireland's Future, Sectoral Investment in Transport. There are a number of bypasses needed in Leish, but it looks like the whole county was bypassed for funding. You were down there this week, last year, exactly 52 weeks ago, canvassing for the election. There are huge housing developments needed in Leish. There has been a rapid population growth. It is in one of the top three counties in terms of population growth in the last three years. There is a huge pent-up demand for housing and for infrastructure. But we cannot have the housing without the infrastructure. And throughout the county there is a need for roads, water services, wastewater, sewerage and electricity services to be expanded. The National Development Plan Review published yesterday $102 billion in funding between now and 2030 in capital funding. Last, back in July, you said on 22nd July that by prioritising investment in water, energy and transport, we are laying the groundwork for 300,000 new homes. That is $50,000 a year. You won't be able to do it. Now, we have prioritised Leish, and I will come to that in a second, the Department of Local Government, what they have said about it. It can't happen without it. What they actually said in their national planning framework, what they have said out there is, they have projected the additional need for housing at 1,244 additional houses per annum, on top of what has already been provided. This is a huge expansion in population to Anishte. It is a 35% increase in population over the next nine years, is what has been projected. And this is on top of five years of very, very rapid growth. Leish, as I said, is in the top three in terms of population expansion. Now, you are asking the local authorities to zone huge tracts of land, but without it being serviced, this will be useless, because people will have to get in now by helicopter. There won't be roads for it. So the infrastructure is required to install these housing projects. You can't build the 1,000 to 1,300 or 400 houses per year unless these projects go ahead. And the roads that are critically needed is the Portlaoise-Norther Norbert route, the Mount Melik Relief road is critical. You saw that yourself when you were down last year. And to open up all that land, particularly across the north and west of Portlaoise, the Northern Norbert route is required. Water services need to be expanded, according to Ishkairan, according to this document, all the red lines in it. That shows where it's needed throughout the county in Great Cullen, in Burris, Nostri, Banna Kael, the Swan, Timahoe need wastewater improvements. Port Harrington, Doros, Mount Rath, Stradbilly, Rathdowney and Ballylinen need expansion in water supply. So it's critical that we have this infrastructure for the council and for private developers to be able to provide the housing. So will you go back to the drawing board with this review and ensure that Leash receives some funding, particularly for the Portlaoise-Norbert Norbert route and the Mount Melik Relief road, but also the expansion of wastewater and water services, because we cannot have houses unless we have services. It can't be done. We also need to relieve the congestion of the N80, and that can only be done by the Mount Melik Relief road and the Northern Orbital route in Portlaoise. Thank you. Well, can I thank Deputy Stanley for raising these matters? And I was indeed in Leash, and I was indeed canvassing in the election, and I was delighted that my new colleague, Deputy Willie Airt, joined you in doll air. I will tell you, the promises that Willie Airt is going to keep, and he will work with you constructively in relation to that as well, because we have a lot of work that we need to do to deliver for the people of Leash and the people of the Midlands. But I would say, and you make constructive points, and they are fair points in terms of obviously we have to put the infrastructure in place to enable the housing capacity to be delivered, that is a statement of fact. And what you saw yesterday was another piece of the jigsaw in terms of an improvement and approval for a sectoral investment plan for transport under the NDP. This is a very significant increase in terms of a number of projects that we will be in a position to deliver approximately 9.7 billion euro in investment in roads, protecting and renewing existing roads, delivering many new national road projects, trying to mitigate against seasonal and climate-related impacts, rolling out EV charging infrastructure, and delivering new strategic regional roads as well. I should say, and I know the Minister for Transport did say, and was at pains to say yesterday on many occasions, and Minister Budimer is here with us also, and Minister Canney, that this list is not exhaustive. This is a number of projects that will be delivered. There will also be an annual TII capital plan, and we expect that plan to come early in the new year. And there will also be opportunities, specifically in relation to the housing point, to look at how we can work with the likes of the Housing Activation Office. I see this in my own constituency, where if key infrastructure is funded through the Housing Activation Office or other structures, it actually opens up opportunities to develop and deliver further housing supply and further crucial infrastructure as well. So I always know when you publish a list, it very quickly becomes about not just what is on the list, but what is not. And that is why I know the Minister for Transport, while welcoming the sectoral investment plan, was clear, as is all of government, that this is not exhaustive, but it is about moving forward with some degree of clarity. There will be many further opportunities, including in relation to the TII capital plan, and we will work very constructively with Leash Deputies in this House. We will also work very constructively with the local authority as well, specifically on the issue of water and wastewater. My own officials in the Department of Finance met with Iska Aaron, I think last week, in the last couple of days anyway. I am certainly very satisfied from my conversation that capital funding is not now the constraint in relation to Iska Aaron. We have literally provided Iska Aaron with billions of euro more funding. The capacity constraint here is the planning system, the regulatory system, and how we can actually get things done more quickly. And I will work constructively in relation to the projects that are needed in Leash in terms of water and wastewater. I also look forward to next February, when the rules change to finally, finally, finally, a bit of common sense and allow developers actually on small-scale housing developments or relatively small-scale, put in their own infrastructure around wastewater, which I believe will open up huge housing opportunities in many rural towns and villages. So I am happy to continue to engage, and I will send on the specific projects you referenced to the relevant Ministers. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. Mr Tanley. The Department of Local Government, James Rowan's Department, there is no point in them publishing lists like this and projecting growth, huge growth for a county, unless the infrastructure goes in along with it. And I did not mention the need for health centres, schools, the courthouse in Portlaoise, by the way, as well, and many other things that are needed in the county. But what I would say to you is this, and the flood relief schemes, what I would say to you is this, is that if we are going to have sustainable development, if we are going to have sustainable development, we have to take into account transport, and at the moment the N80 is, trucks from the west of Ireland and everywhere else, have to wind their way through the narrow streets of Mount Melik, and around the junction at Pear Street, Pear Street and Patrick Street, Market Square, which is off yourself, in Portlaoise, they have to go in under the railway bridge, sometimes they get caught under it, and in by the roundabout, in the centre of the town. That road has to be taken off, from the Mount Melik road across, has to be connected with the motorway, on the northern side, northeastern side of Portlaoise, and I would appeal to you, to go back to the drawing board with this. Now I know I heard what you said, that it's not, you know, there may be others to come, but you know yourself, there's a list of documents on the back page of that, and you know, when it's not listed on that, you know, it's going to be a battle to do it, and I'm asking you to make sure that that happens, and the promises that were made before the election are kept. Well, they certainly will be, and when I look at the budget that was introduced just across the Irish Sea yesterday, I'm very thankful to be the Minister for Finance in a country where we're able to dramatically increase our capital investment, and that didn't happen by accident, Deputy, it happened due to the hard work and ingenuity of the Irish people, but it also happened as a result of the policies that my party, Fianna Fáil, and others have delivered in government over the last several years, that has resulted in being able to run budget surpluses, put money into future funds, increase our social welfare payments to look after our pensioners, older people, carers, people with a disability, and make real differences in terms of public services too. I note in your second question, and understandably so, you expanded the area of projects across your county to other areas as is appropriate. Can I just say we've taken a decision to roll out a series of investment plans, so there will be in the coming days a number of further capital plan announcements in relation to health, in relation to disability, and indeed today in relation to childcare, very, very significant amount of public capital funding for state-led public childcare, something I talked about a lot in the election, and something that we're absolutely determined to deliver, so we'll keep in touch on Leash. Thank you, Peter.