Dublin North left behind in Budget 2017 – O’Brien

​Local Fianna Fáil TD, Darragh O’Brien has said that this week’s Budget announcement excludes the needs of the fastest-growing county in the country.


Commenting on this week's Budget, Deputy O’Brien said, “Another year, another budget has passed and Metro North and the expansion of DART services remain under “review.”


“The number of people living in Fingal is now close to 300,000; an increase of 8pc in the past five years and over 20,000 more than 2011. Despite this, little is being done to improve services or infrastructure in the area. 


“Furthermore, this increase in population further pressurises our local primary and secondary schools which are already over-subscribed or at capacity. It has been continually noted that high birth rates in recent years, mean additional school places are required to simply keep pace.


“Yet the provision of new secondary schools in the Swords area and also in the Malahide and Portmarnock areas still remain at a planning phase. 


“The Dublin Metro is absolutely essential for our ever-growing city, most particularly in North County. Meanwhile, Dublin Airport continues to experience strong growth, breaking all previous records.

"Fine Gael have set themselves against any delivery of shovel-ready plans for the project even after announcing a scaled back version with no business case analysis and that has yet to go through the planning process.

“The longer the delays go on and the inaction continues, the clearer it is becoming that the Fine Gael promises made to people in this region in relation to public transport have been firmly ignored. The north side is sadly not a priority for this Government but I and my party will continue to use our mandate to keep North County Dublin issues on the agenda.”