Éamon Ó Cuív warns of infrastructure neglect in north and west

He wishes to discuss with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan, Delivery and Reform, the need for balanced economic investment in the northern and western regions, and I note before he stands that there are at least two more generations of the O'Keev family in the public gallery, so you are very welcome. Thank you very much. Minister, I would like to thank you for coming in and taking the question. So, anybody who goes to the north and west, which is Connacht and the part of Ulster that is in the Republic, is more than aware, just by driving through it, of the lack of infrastructure. In fact, there are no motorways in Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon. There might be a little bit in Roscommon just there, but if there is, it is very, very short. The reality is the motorway in Galway is the one from Limerick that stops in Chewham and the one from Dublin that goes to Galway. When we look at grid infrastructure, it is totally insufficient, even though places like the rural areas of Connacht are high possibility areas for onshore wind generation. When we look under the ground, we find that there is a very high number of houses that do not have any public water supply. They are dependent on wells and streams, which everybody knows are unsuitable. When we look at towns, we see that they are unsuored. Many of the villages do not have any public waste water systems in them and they cannot expand. When we look at the towns that do have them, they are totally inadequate. And on and on goes when you actually look at the ground at the reality. I did raise this in the form of parliamentary question, and I hope they have not regurgitated the parliamentary question, in which they listed a small number of projects that have been done. A very small number of projects have been done. They mentioned the Balladourine to Scramogue Road and so on. But what has not happened and what has got worse is that the percentage of the expenditure going to the most deprived region in terms of infrastructure is way beneath its population share. I will give you the figures. 9.9% of the tenders under the National Development Plan, over 1 million. That is what went to the northern and western regions. Even though it has 17.6% of the population. This is not a depopulated area. There is quite a population in it. And when you look at the tenders over 20 million, you will find that the percentage drops to 5.5%. Now I have no doubt that the Department of Public Expenditure will point out that there are some schemes and infrastructure projects that span into different regions. It might not be covered. The National Broadband Plan is that. And I would say that is true. But even if we strip that out, there is a total disparity. And the analysis has been fairly thorough in that regard. There are, for example, and something that will be dear to your heart, except for Galway City has two research centres. There are no other research centres. There are no other research centres. From Letterkenny to East Calvin, and from East Calvin all the way down to Galway, except two in Galway City. Therefore, Minister, what we need is a reversal. I remember back in the noughties when we started doing the motorways, I raised a very valid question. In relation to the need for infrastructure in the west, and how the motorways were going to the south, and the southwest, and to Galway. But if you took an arc from there around, there was very little going in. And it was promised in the next iteration, and it was in Transport 21, that the next iteration would make up for that. This disparity has continued, and it would always seem to me that, you know, when you do things in a cost-benefit analysis, the way they do them, which is false, it will always be skewed to where the maximum number of people are. And you actually are creating problems of overpopulation in some areas. And total depopulation in areas that could do with the population, have the schools, have the social infrastructure, have the sports facilities, have the health centres and whatever, and could actually do with the population. And we are actually exacerbating our problems by not having balanced regional development. And every document that comes out is balanced regional development. But when I got the parliamentary reply on this, they said, no, no, no, it's up to each line minister. But I would have thought that the delivery of National Development Plan projects would have had an overarching by the Department of National Development Plan delivery, and that they would have ensured that in the round there was balanced regional development. Well, Mr Lawless, there's one for you now. Yes, say the best to last. Thank you, Deputy. And before I respond, I just want to pay tribute and welcome to your family that I've just been informed in the gallery. And I don't know whether you'll have an opportunity, I'm sure you will, knowing your good self, to contribute again in this House over the coming weeks before the term ends. I suspect you will find a couple more opportunities. But just to take the opportunity to put on record your significant contribution to this House, to this nation, to this Republic, and to the party that I'm privileged to serve in with you. And just to say that you've always been a source, since I've served with you, of knowledge, experience, but most importantly, wisdom. And I thank you for your time that you made available that certainly benefited my career and my understanding of many complex issues. So I just want to thank you for that on the public record. To take up the point that you raise, and I know this is a topic close to your heart, very much so, and you've often spoken of these matters. Balanced regional development is also a key priority of the government and is at the heart of Project Ireland 2040. This plan includes the National Planning Framework, the NPF, which sets the overreaching spatial strategy for the next 20 years, along with the revised NDP 2021-2030, being published in October 2021. The Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, is responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at departmental level. His department is also responsible for maintaining the national frameworks within which departments operate to ensure appropriate accounting for and value for money in public expenditure. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects are sectoral policy strategies, within the allocations agreed on to the NDP, and in line with the national frameworks rests with the individual sponsoring department in each case. The Department of Public Expenditure, and NDP Delivery and Reform, therefore allocates expenditure not on a geographic basis, but upon a departmental basis, as per requests from individual departments for spending within their remits. The government committed £165 billion towards capital investment through the NDP published in 2021. An additional £2.25 billion of windfall corporate tax receipts has also been pledged and allocated from 2024 to 2026 over the next two years to provide funding for critical infrastructure projects that are at an advanced age as well as to the existing climate action fund. This builds on the existing funding already available under the NDP out to 2026, and it will mean more schools, housing, transport and healthcare projects can be progressed and delivered for our people across all regions, including in the Northern and Western region. The three regional assemblies, including the Northern and Western regional assembly, are responsible for coordinating, promoting, promoting and supporting the strategic planning and sustainable development of their regions by formulating regional spatial economic strategies, RESIS. Investment decisions made by departments are informed by those strategies. In 2025, almost £15 billion will be made available from the extreker for investment in public capital projects, which will provide more schools, homes, hospitals and other pieces of vital infrastructure. The level of expenditure will be pivotal in consolidating the progress already made, supporting balanced regional development and most importantly delivering the necessary infrastructure to support our future climate change obligations, as well as social and economic requirements. The government is continuing to deliver and approve infrastructure in the Northern and Western region, in areas such as transport, broadband connectivity, housing and energy. These investments in public infrastructure projects, in turn, have a positive effect in delivering employment opportunities and further investment by the private sector, so that it becomes a repeating circle. Some examples of progress and delivery in the Northern and Western regions include better educational facilities, and examples given are the Hoyley Family Special School in Cooteal Caval, Gwyrmish School of Wira and Latin Rai County Galway, more social housing, taking the example of 74 social housing units in Ballyburgh County Galway, as part of the PPP social housing bundle and 73 social housing units in the Ursuline Convent's Lego, better transport links including the M4 upgrade from Colony to Castle Baldwin, the M5 Westport to Turlock, the M56 Mount Charles to Inver Road, the M59 Moicullen Bypass, all projects which save lives and boost competitiveness as well as providing for smoother journeys in every sense. They are reasonably balanced projects in line of approach early in 2040, better health facilities, UC University College Galway Hospital, the Radiation Ecology Unit, Dorn Glow Community Hospital, residential care centre and primary care centres in Monaghan Town, high-quality cultural and sporting amenities, new libraries in Virginia, County Cavan, across Monaghan and hundreds of other projects right across the various funds, the rural and urban regeneration technologies and so forth. So I probably have a long list, Deputy, but I think you get the idea that there are many projects underway in the region. Thank you. Minister, God forbid today that anyone would ask for the same list for the eastern region. You would be here for a week. The reality is 9.9%. That is what you called out. Where is the missing 9%? Or if I take projects over 20 million, because we always get small projects, but there are big things needed. If I take things over 20 million, then we are missing 12%. In other words, 17% and we only have 5%. So you nearly need to treble the input of projects. Minister, if we look at, for example, rail investment, we have not, despite the fact that there was a commitment in Transport 2020 and there was a government decision, and I checked that, made in the noughties, to extend the railway line to Toome and to Clamaras. It has not happened yet. As I pointed out, there are many houses in the west of Ireland that do not have a public water supply. There are a whole lot of complications that arise out of that situation. So we need rebalancing of the infrastructure spend. It seems to me absolutely extraordinary that there is this mantra of balanced regional development again and again and again. Then you say, no, we just leave it to the departments, away they go, and they do not answer to anybody for balanced regional development. That is just what it is, a mantra that does not have any meaning. When you challenge that mantra with hard figures, that all you get is the department coming back, regurgitating the reply they gave in the Dáil to me, with the same answer, and not addressing the issue, and the same litany. I am not blaming you individually for coming in here with a script given by the department. But I have to say, it is time we got balanced regional development. To be quite honest, it would take a lot of pressure off the east coast of this country, if we had balanced regional development. As somebody who has spent quite considerable time within my life, developing in the development role, developing industry, developing social services and so on, on the ground, the reality was the biggest inhibitor was the lack of basic infrastructure. I started off when it took me a year and a half to get one telephone line. In certain ways, relatively speaking, we have not progressed since. Mr Lawless. Thank you, Deputy. I note everything you say, a very strong contribution. I have to reiterate that the goal and one of the core objectives of Project Early in 2040 is strengthening rural economies and rural communities. Building up and improving services for the population does require significant investment in infrastructure, now and into the future, that is undoubted. Prioritising key social and economic investment has been a critical component of the government in supporting Ireland's growth and delivering better fit-for-purpose public services. Through the record investment of £165 billion set out in the NDP, along with additional capital as I mentioned from windfall receipts, the government has demonstrated its commitment to infrastructural spend and increased infrastructural spend and investment right across the country. The total capital investment in 2025 would be almost £15 billion, highest annual spend to date in the country, and the government is investing well above the EU norms in current and future years of the NDP. I appreciate your point, Deputy, that those should be spread across the regions and there should be an allocation well above 9%, as you say, for the Western region, and I suppose the departments have choices to make in terms of spending, and there are a number of criteria that they assess those on, and perhaps that should form part of that matrix in the future. So I hear the point you make there. You will be pleased to note that amongst other projects there is another list of projects, and I am just going to cite one from my own department, the opening of the upgraded N56 Dunglow to Glentys Road in April this year, with a sum of £100 million, so that was a very significant commitment of intent, and in fact money well spent, I would say, on that road, which I hope... We were very well spent, we cut that into transport, 2020, way back in the day, and by that it was needed, and a lot more to go with it. Well, it is welcome. The fact that it actually happens, I think, is very welcome. So look, I hear the points you make, Deputy, and the Government will continue to make efforts to boost NDP delivery, and indeed to strive towards regional development. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy. Thank you, Deputy.