LIMERICK Sinn Fรฉin senator Joanne Collins wants to see balanced development policy made by and for all of Ireland, not just a few.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Collins took the view that the very idea of balanced regional development is at odds with Ireland’s current national development plan – which,she suggests, seeks to put half of Ireland’s population in the Dublin region.
“That means half of us will live, work, and commute in a tiny corner of the country, while the rest of the country is left underinvested, neglected and stranded on the margins,” she hit out.
“How will we provide water services and infrastructure for this massive growth in a small area? The answer we have been presented with is to pump and pipe the water from the River Shannon at a cost and to ignore the reality that key towns across Ireland are already on lockdown due to decades of underinvestment in water and sewerage.”
Senator Collins went on to say that Limerick and other counties are forever “held hostage” by the one big idea in Ireland’s planning and development.
“At one time, it was the building of new towns, a policy meant to kick-start employment and provide houses without delivering services, amenities or a real future for these communities,” she declared.
“I attended a briefing on the M20 motorway road, a road that is meant to connect counties Limerick and Cork. At long last it is on the agenda, but the delivery timeline stretches well into the middle of the next decade. To add insult to injury, it looks like this road could be entirely tolled at every section, a literal price we pay for not following balanced policy from the outset.”
Senator Collins took the view that the midlands, the south and the west should not become commuter belts for Dublin or holiday playgrounds for the wealthy.
“The fundamental problem in all these approaches is the view that there should be one winner,” she suggested.
“A small number of places thrive, while the rest are left stranded. There are no winners in this scenario. Everyone loses when we undermine the very communities we aim to serve. We need to step back and move away from the cyclical plans made from the top down and restart from the bottom up, from the communities themselves.
“We need a grassroots appraisal of what each area needs, whether it is a small town, a rural parish or a city neighbourhood.”
