Census data leads to call for local investment 

A LOCAL public representative has warned that the Government must start to invest in education, childcare and transport in North Dublin.

Based on data compiled as part of Census 2016, Balbriggan has the youngest population in Ireland for towns in excess of 10,000 residents, and Fingal is the youngest county.

Senator Lorraine Clifford Lee (FF) said:

“This data is nothing new to those of us living in North Dublin, but it does re-emphasise the critical need for the Government to invest in important projects in education, childcare and transport to keep up with a growing, younger population. 

“The population of the county (Fingal) has almost doubled in the past 25 years with nearly 300,000 men, women and children living in the area with many living in towns such as Lusk, Skerries and Donabate.

“We need to see more schools and classrooms being built, better transport links for families to get to work, school and around the county, and we need to ensure that there are enough childcare places for the increased number of children who will undoubtedly be born over the next 10 years from such a young population.

?Â 

Senator Clifford Lee said one of Ireland’s biggest problems has been its inability to plan for the future. 

“We built large housing developments in the past without adequate educational, leisure and commercial resources to go hand in hand with all the new people living in the county,

? she argued. 

“In recent years, a failure to invest in transport infrastructure, such as Metro North, when land and labour costs were lower, has seen our county and capital start to creak under increases in commuter traffic.

?

Dublin Fingal TD Alan Farrell (FG) vowed that Fine Gael in Government will

“continue to invest

? in vital infrastructure in north county Dublin.

“When Fine Gael came into office, our economy was in crisis, we were faced with numerous infrastructural issues, particularly with regard to our schools in the north county,

? he said. 

“Fianna Fáil had left many of our schools without permanent classrooms, but instead had provided them with prefabs. 

“In 2008, under the then Fianna Fáil Government, there was a stark deficiency in educational infrastructure in Balbriggan, so much so that 80 children turned up to school with bags, books, and uniforms with no school places for them.

“In many cases, these prefabs were aged, and having deteriorated over numerous years, our children were receiving their education in classrooms that were simply falling apart. 

“Fine Gael in Government, even through tough economic times, prioritised the replacement of prefab classrooms with the permanent infrastructure our schools and children both require and deserve, as our economic means allowed. This process is ongoing.

?

Deputy Farrell said that as a father of two young children, he is fully aware of the burden the cost of childcare places on parents and families. 

“However, any suggestions of inaction on the part of the Government in this regard are simply disingenuous,

? he said.  

“The fact is that up to 70,000 children will have extra supports when the changes agreed in Budget 2017 come into force at the start of the pre-school year, with some children receiving benefits up to

?¬7,500. 

“I note the irony in remarks from Fianna Fáil that there has been a failure to invest in transport infrastructure when, given the economic situation our country faced in 2011, such investment was impossible. 

“Fine Gael in Government have given the green-light for the development of the Metro North from start to finish – a stark contrast from the approach taken by other parties in Government.

?Â 

Meanwhile, Balbriggan councillor Tony Murphy (Ind) believes the upside for the town is that a young population is a

“fantastic asset pool

? for the future.

“However, what the numbers reflect in reality is that there are 6,000 children under the age of 14 years which is a little over 25 per cent of the total population,

? said Cllr Murphy. 

“When you don’t have the family support services in place then you will have a lot of issues not being addressed. Support services in Balbriggan are seriously under resourced and underfunded.

?

Cllr Murphy has called for a family resource centre to be provided in the town.  

“Family resource centres are unique to each area and offer many services such as parenting skills courses; advice on the role of young fathers; and assistance for young mothers and those parenting alone,

? he added.