Road land acquisition costs
Howlin says fair compensation and replacement land could obstruct infrastructure projects. The Taoiseach agrees the issue needs a structural solution and says he will raise it with the relevant Minister.
Does the Taoiseach accept, given his most recent comment, that the two nations most prominent in visas were Australia and Canada? Other nations from where we want to recruit people are not well represented. More importantly, does he accept that a major obstacle in completing the national roads programme and other infrastructural projects is the difficulty with land? Does the Taoiseach accept the requirement to pay land owners a fair price will be a big obstacle to fulfilling the ambitions laid out in the national roads programme and other infrastructural projects? The imposition of a national indicative price for land is having a disastrous impact on the progress of many road projects, two of which in my constituency will not progress until a more realistic price is paid. Will the Taoiseach accept that no progress will be made unless the money paid allows a farmer to buy replacement land?
Comment on this
Deputy Howlin asked me the same question a few weeks ago, and the answer is yes. Progress has to be made as all land is not the same. The NRA, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, and the Minister for Finance have tried to rectify the matter; it has to be dealt with. Farm bodies, who I have been meeting on other issues, have raised this issue. I acknowledge there will not be a resolution unless the structure is changed. Solutions have been found in a number of areas, and I am disappointed Wexford is not one of them. I will mention this to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.