Rose Conway-Walsh on Dublin Airport Bill and Rural Broadband Betrayal

You stole my line, Cathaoirleach, that's exactly what I was going to say, I wouldn't describe them as limited. I too, on behalf of the Sinn Fein team, want to send solidarity to the citizens of France on the destruction of the Notre Dame. I think everybody watched with sadness last night to what was happening there. I do want to commend the, firstly today, Cathaoirleach as well, I want to propose a change to the order of business. And that is around the aircraft noise, Dublin Airport Bill 2018. This is way far too serious of a bill to push through committee stage and remaining stages. So I would propose that we take committee stage this evening and I would ask, and particularly I would ask, Queenie Fáil to support the Sinn Fein amendments around that, but that we don't go beyond committee stage this evening on that bill because of its importance and because of the impact it has on people's lives who are living around Dublin Airport. Today as well, Cathaoirleach, I want to commend the CE Supervisors who have once again gathered outside this house, or these houses, to put forward their case. Their case that was agreed at the Labour Court 10 years ago, that was agreed in a cross-party motion last year to give very simple pension entitlements to CE Supervisors and workers. It's no more complicated than that. These are the same workers who haven't had a wage increase for the last 10 years. And it's scandalous that they have to come up here to protest for their workers' rights. And I'm very fearful of the impact on communities all around this country that the threatened five-day strike that they feel compelled to do will have in the future. I want to speak on broadband, Cathaoirleach, and the broadband, the betrayal of rural Ireland. And absolutely it is a betrayal. But it's not a betrayal today or yesterday. It's a betrayal by this government, by the last government, by the Fianna Fáil government before that, of rural Ireland and everything to do with rural Ireland. You know, I've said it here several times. It was Fianna Fáil that sold off, that sold off our main telecommunications organization company that left us at the behest of French and Australian multimillionaires. So the policies, the centralization and privatization policies of both of these governments has betrayed rural Ireland for decades upon decades, and it has to stop. We only have to look at the Western Rail Corridor development, which is badly needed. My own colleague, Matt Carthy, had secured the backing of the European Parliament to have the Western Rail Corridor as a priority in the report for consideration. It then went into secret talks in the bureaucracy of the European Commission, where it was blocked. Had the Irish government wanted it, it could have ensured that the Western Rail Corridor development remained on the table for the funding. So when the questions were put to Minister Ross as to why the Western Rail Corridor was removed, he cited confidentiality clauses. And we see this time and time again, hiding behind supposed confidentiality clauses. Only last week the government were criticizing a prominent public figure for not answering serious questions in front of the committee. But when it comes to rural Ireland, the same behavior is acceptable. MEPs from many other European countries saw the urgent need for the rail transport development in the West and voted in favor on it. And then behind closed doors and in full view of the Fine Gael government, it disappeared. So I would ask the people in the West to ask the candidate from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael what exactly happened to the bid to have the rail corridor included in that round of funding. What is going on in relation to rural Ireland is disgraceful and it has to stop. You know, all these nice words and all of that, well, you know, it doesn't cook the goose.