Michael Healy-Rae: Labour 'Against Tourism, House Building, Roads'
Michael Healy-Rae rejects a Labour motion he calls "mad", arguing it would undermine tourism, housing and road construction and harm rural communities. He defends removing the Dublin Airport cap, prioritising road safety investment and the government's housing and development measures.
Michael Healy-Rae addresses the Dáil to challenge a Labour motion that he says wrongly frames government policy as increasing carbon emissions by lifting the Dublin airport cap and prioritising road construction over public transport. He argues the Climate Action Bill targets were unachievable and that the burden falls on farmers, families and small businesses in rural Ireland, not Dublin politicians.
Healy-Rae repeats his central contention that Labour's motion effectively opposes tourism and economic development, house building and the construction of roads. He welcomes government moves to remove the airport cap and to invest in road safety and infrastructure as measures that will bring people and economic activity into the country and save lives.
He highlights the practical impact of the policies on rural communities in Kerry and beyond, saying those without alternatives will pay for unrealistic targets. He calls the motion illogical and damaging, and makes clear he will not support attempts to undermine housing and infrastructure projects.
The speech frames a clash between national climate ambitions and local development priorities, setting out why Healy-Rae believes current changes to airport capacity, housing policy and road spending are necessary for rural economies and safety. The Dáil debate may influence how those balances are presented to the public and acted on by ministers and TDs.
Main claim and context
Michael Healy-Rae addresses the Dáil to challenge a Labour motion that he says wrongly frames government policy as increasing carbon emissions by lifting the Dublin airport cap and prioritising road construction over public transport. He argues the Climate Action Bill targets were unachievable and that the burden falls on farmers, families and small businesses in rural Ireland, not Dublin politicians.
Arguments on tourism, housing and roads
Healy-Rae repeats his central contention that Labour's motion effectively opposes tourism and economic development, house building and the construction of roads. He welcomes government moves to remove the airport cap and to invest in road safety and infrastructure as measures that will bring people and economic activity into the country and save lives.
Rural impact and political consequence
He highlights the practical impact of the policies on rural communities in Kerry and beyond, saying those without alternatives will pay for unrealistic targets. He calls the motion illogical and damaging, and makes clear he will not support attempts to undermine housing and infrastructure projects.
What this means going forward
The speech frames a clash between national climate ambitions and local development priorities, setting out why Healy-Rae believes current changes to airport capacity, housing policy and road spending are necessary for rural economies and safety. The Dáil debate may influence how those balances are presented to the public and acted on by ministers and TDs.
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Transcript
This motion is mad. It says that Dáil Éireann recognises the government will further increase carbon emissions by lifting the Dublin airport cap, promoting unsustainable housing and economic development and by no longer prioritising public transport and active travel investment over road construction. So the message must go out loud and clear from here today. Labour are against tourism and economic development, they're against house building and they're against the construction of roads. That's a very clear message by the Labour Party here in this motion. Targets underpinned by the Climate Action Bill, which 129 TDs voted for across all parties, were wholly unachievable and always were. The people paying the price for unachievable targets are not the politicians in Dublin, it is the farmers, the families with two cars working hard, the small business owners and the rural communities who have no alternatives. So when I see government removing the cap for example in Dublin airport, what's that going to do? It's going to help us an awful lot. It's going to bring more people into this country. It's going to bring economic development in here. When I see you Minister prioritising road safety, saving lives by spending money on roads and infrastructure, I welcome that. When I see the government targeting housing and when I see a motion like this come along trying to undermine that type of work, that's why I say this motion is mad, it makes no sense. And again, let the message go out clear. Labour are against tourism and economic development, Labour are against house building and Labour are against the construction of roads. That makes absolutely no sense to me or the people from Kerry that I represent and that I want to continue to fight for and argue for and be there to support and what Labour are trying to do in undermining the work that is being carried out is absolutely crazy and insane and I don't agree with it and I certainly wouldn't support it in any shape or fashion whatsoever.