Building Homes But No Infrastructure: Kildare TD Delivers Stinging Rebuke To His Own Government

Fianna Fail TD Naoise Ó Cearúil told the Dáil that Kildare North’s population jumped 12.8% between 2016 and 2022, and has grown even further since - but the services haven’t kept pace.

A Kildare North TD says the county is being flooded with new housing while the essential infrastructure needed to support families is still missing.

Fianna Fail TD Naoise Ó Cearúil told the Dáil that Kildare North’s population jumped 12.8% between 2016 and 2022, and has grown even further since - but the services haven’t kept pace.

He said the region is “struggling when it comes to core infrastructure,” despite taking the pressure off Dublin by absorbing major housing growth for two decades.

The TD highlighted schools still in prefabs, including St Patrick’s Primary School in Celbridge, which he said has been in temporary buildings “since its inception,” and St Raphael’s Special School, which “still has not got its new school building.”

He also pointed out that Maynooth, Celbridge, Kilcock and Clane have no full-time Garda station, despite Maynooth having over 17,500 residents and another 17,000 students.

Ó Cearúil said, “You would not get it in other parts of the country but for some reason Kildare needs to put up with it time and time again.”

He said access to services is also under pressure. 

He told the Dáil it’s “impossible for young parents to find a crèche,” and that there is no primary care centre in either Maynooth or Leixlip, even as both towns continue to expand.

On amenities, he said there is “no public swimming pool in the north east of Kildare,” playground upgrades remain undelivered, and outages in water and energy happen “time and time again.”

He said if communities are expected to keep taking new housing, the State must deliver the basics:

“We should be building the social infrastructure to match it… these things are not happening," he said. 

Responding, the Government says major investment under Project Ireland 2040 is continuing to deliver key infrastructure in north Kildare.

It points to completed projects like the M7 widening, the Sallins bypass, the new Naas Community College, Naas Library and upgrades at Maynooth University - along with "hundreds" of new homes built in Naas, Maynooth and Kilcock in recent years.

Fine Gael's Alan Dillon defended the Government's track record.

He said a €19.1 billion national capital budget has been allocated for next year, with funding for student accommodation at Maynooth University, upgrades to the rail network and DART+, progress on the Grand Canal Greenway, major water-supply projects, and the Enfield–Kilcock trunk main and Leixlip treatment-plant upgrade.

He said sectoral capital plans outlining what will be prioritised over the next five years - including projects in Kildare North - are due to be published this month.

Commenting on the lack of a primary care centre in Maynooth, Health Minister Jennifer Carrol MacNeill said: "I examined the location, distance and public transport routes between Maynooth and Leixlip to best understand how people would access the more significant service that will be available in Leixlip."

She added: "I am aware that Maynooth continues to grow. It was the original intention to have that facility there. A number of issues have been thrown up in that infrastructure process that give me pause as Minister for Health as to how we will deliver better infrastructure around the country."