Infrastructure

There has been a massive drop off in road maintenance spending in Louth over the past few years. Since 2012, the spend on regional and local roads has been almost 60% less than what is needed to keep the roads in good condition – the Department of Transport estimates that €12m is required to keep Louth roads in their steady state condition, however the Government has spent an average of €5m a year since 2013.

Motor tax, which should be pumped back into local authorities to pay for roads and local infrastructure upgrades is being spent on bulking up Irish Water. Around €10 million of the total €28 motor tax receipts collected from Louth will be used to fund the €324m subvention going towards the establishment of Irish Water in 2015. This money is purely to set up the Irish Water corporation, not a cent of it will be spent on improving water infrastructure.

 

 

Protect Rural Services

This Fine Gael/Labour government has gone about systematically attacking rural Ireland and family farmers over the past four years. With Garda station closures, farm assist cuts and small schools under threat, rural Ireland has been singled out by the government for cutbacks across a number of areas. The government’s decisions are ultimately damaging the attraction of living and working in rural areas.

Fianna Fáil remains firmly committed in government to introduce a community services guarantee that will ensure specific targets on the availability of schools, health services, sports and recreational facilities, as well as public transport.