Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway Walsh has called on the Government to give clarity on projects in the National Development Plan and to commit to the delivery of the Western Rail Corridor extension to Mayo.

Conway-Walsh has said that the Government has failed to deliver on very modest demands for investment in infrastructure in rural communities and has asked for fairer rural development.

Speaking in the Dáil she said: “The National Development Plan was the litmus test of the Government’s commitment to regional development, a test they have failed.

We have 94,000km of regional and local roads across the State that provide vital connectivity in rural Ireland

“We have decades of evidence of how successive governments have failed to deliver for rural Ireland. Not least that the west is categorised by the EU as a region in transition.

“We desperately need State-led investment in infrastructure, but sadly we seem to have another government unwilling to lead.

“We have 94,000km of regional and local roads across the State that provide vital connectivity in rural Ireland. Yet despite years of empty promises in Mayo, we still don’t have delivery on the N26 or the R312,” Conway-Walsh said.

Second chance to deliver

Conway-Walsh said: “Sinn Féin have brought forward this motion to give the Government a second chance.

Many Government TDs in the west have been very critical of the National Development Plan

“A chance for them to show voters that they are serious about regional transport infrastructure. That they are serious about reducing carbon emissions. That they have a vision for our country beyond maintaining the status quo and blocking change.

“Many Government TDs in the west have been very critical of the National Development Plan and the complete lack of any commitment on the Western Rail Corridor.

“They are right. Not including the project in the National Development Plan is a real missed opportunity for the Government to show that it is committed to regional development in the west.

“I call on all members of the Government to take this second chance and support regional infrastructure development and the opening of the Western Rail Corridor by voting in favour of this Sinn Féin motion.”