Conor D McGuinness: Waterford Deserves Real Infrastructure Action
Conor D McGuinness challenges the government’s record on infrastructure delivery and calls for clear definitions, accountability and fair regional investment. He highlights chronic delays, specific failings in Waterford and the south-east, and demands urgent action to unblock projects that sustain communities.
Summary of the speech
Conor D McGuinness opens by saying Sinn Féin will back measures that genuinely speed up delivery of critical infrastructure, but argues the government has a systemic delivery problem. He criticises the legislation for failing to define "critical infrastructure" and warns that wide ministerial discretion risks fast-tracking projects without proper scrutiny.
Regional investment imbalance
McGuinness points to stark regional disparities: the south-east has 9% of the population but receives just 1.8% of major capital spending. He frames this as a sustained pattern of neglect with measurable consequences for Waterford and the wider south-east.
Local consequences for Waterford
The speech lists stalled and cut projects: delays on the N25 and N24 upgrades, reduced rail and air services, gaps in hospital cardiac care, underfunding at the technological university, and water and wastewater works that block housing and development in towns such as Lismore, Bonmahon, Passage and Port Law.
Demands for the legislation
McGuinness urges the Bill to prioritise community needs, set clear definitions of critical infrastructure, and include enforceable accountability for delivery. He says announcements are not enough and that communities should only be judged on actual delivery, not promises.
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Go raibh maith agat, Cathaoirleach, Gnaidhfidh, Sinn Féin will support measures that genuinely speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure. There is no question that this state needs urgent investment and delivery at scale. But this government has a clear problem with delivery. Communities are repeatedly told that projects are coming, that funding is allocated, that plans are in place, but what they experience instead are delays, stalled timelines, missed deadlines and a lack of urgency. The infrastructure deficit we face today has been built up over decades. Communities across the state have been left waiting while projects are delayed, scaled back or abandoned altogether. You can't build on top of announcements. You can't drive on announcements. You can't grow an economy on announcements or on plans and strategies. This government cannot be trusted on infrastructure delivery. Its record is one of inaction, delay and poor value for money time and time again. We now have legislation that does not even clearly define what critical infrastructure is in its own title and it doesn't define it and that is a serious weakness, Minister. It gives you as Minister and the Minister of the Day wide discretion to designate projects, creating a real risk that developments are fast-tracked without proper scrutiny while the infrastructure people actually rely on continues to fall behind. Government can designate and announce as much as it likes. It will all be judged on whether it delivers. Nowhere is a failure to deliver more stark than in Waterford and across the south-east. The south-east has 9% of this state's population yet receives just 1.8% of major capital spending. It now has the lowest level of per capita investment of any region in the state and none of that is an accident. It reflects a clear and sustained pattern of neglect that cannot be ignored. The consequences of that neglect are visible right across Waterford. The urgent safety upgrades to the N25 in Waterford are stalled while the N24 has not progressed. Public transport investment lags far behind demand. The Waterford to Russell airline has been shelved and there have been cuts to wider rail services including the Waterford to Dublin route. Waterford Airport, as you know Minister, was left without proper state backing to the point that a private investor had to step in to fund the runway extension. In healthcare, University Hospital Waterford still does not have full 24-7 cardiac care. In education, the south-east technological university continues to receive the lowest level of funding of any technological university. Water and wastewater infrastructure is acting as a direct barrier to housing and development with urgent upgrades needed in Lismore, in Bonmahon and Croke, in Passage and Port Law and further beyond. Yet these projects are repeatedly deprioritised. In Dunmore East the fishing harbour requires development to support the local industry and the wider harbour has clear potential for tourism, while Céilheilfaig in Gaeiltocht na nÉise remains effectively unusable due to the lack of dredging there. In housing, targets have been missed to such an extent that people are now struggling to live and remain in their own communities. Entire villages and towns are facing a demographic cliff edge. That is the lived reality of infrastructure failure in Waterford, Minister, and for rural communities the impact is even more acute. When infrastructure is delayed or denied it is rural towns and villages that feel it first and feel it hardest. Without roads, without public transport, without water and wastewater capacity and without healthcare provision there is no foundation for growth. If this legislation is to have any credibility it must focus on prioritising the infrastructure that communities actually need, alongside clear accountability for delivery and fair, balanced regional investment. Waterford and the south-east and rural communities across the state deserve the same level of ambition, investment and delivery as anywhere else. you
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