Joe Neville
Kildare North · Fine Gael · Ireland
“With the pyrite mediation scheme closing in just four months' time, on 30 November, some people in my constituency have real concerns. Yesterday, I met two constituents who highlighted the fact that their neighbours had been impacted by pyrite in the past and they are concerned about how it might impact them in future.”
“One of the largest semiconductor plants world-wide is only a few hundred metres from my house. It is a large employer where a multitude of my friends, neighbours and even family, at times, have been employed. Intel has been hugely important in north Kildare and, indeed, internationally.”
“We are ahead of the curve from a European point of view in north Kildare in that we have Intel, which many other countries in Europe do not have. We have a knowledge base and a history. Intel has been there since I was a child. With that local knowledge and capability, we want to ensure Ireland stays a step ahead.”
“The issue I want to raise today is the national semiconductor plan. A lot of people wonder what exactly semiconductors are and what exactly that means because it can be a catch-all name in itself. Realistically, they are the chips that power modern electronics and modern computing.”
“Whatever element it is, its support to the State is enormous and that is something of which I think we are all very conscious. Once again, with its importance and the key impacts of the national semiconductor plan in mind, what I am specifically asking about today is the progress and plans we have regarding the clusters, growth and employ…”
“I welcome the response, as well as the many announcements that have come in and the efforts that have been made. Even going back to last year's budget, one thing I highlighted beforehand and discussed was the importance of the R and D tax credit.”
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“We can see that not only does that feed off the Internet, but it obviously comes onto our streets and we can see our own images being posted around by people from far left groups. Unfortunately, that is just a reality of modern life, but we should not allow it to become normalised. Unfortunately, it has become normalised. Deputy Coppinger pointed out how this was not necessarily new technology. It has been around for a number of years. Unfortunately, the online world of the last 25 years has never had safety nets in place. We have seen some changes recently with the introduction of Coimisiún na Meán. Coimisiún na Meán has put things in place. I recently saw a brilliant advertisement showing a child walking through a shopping centre with her parents.”
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue. It is something that impacts us all in many different ways. To some degree, all of us are online. The days of a parent or grandparent not being online are probably over at this stage because everyone has access to a local Facebook group or whatever may be the case. Obviously, it is not just about being online and covering social media. We can see that in our own lives. As public representatives, we often get targeted with comments made online. When there are votes, we often see our faces being plastered around unflatteringly with comments about how we are this or that. Unfortunately, a lot of them come from the far left side.”
“As Deputy Ó Cearúil alluded to, we need to ensure the tax base is widened and not narrowed, as the Opposition continually seeks despite the fact that it talks about the need to increase spending on this and that. Then again, it never wants any taxes whatsoever to be raised. That is the dichotomy we have to deal with in this House. I just want to get the Tánaiste's views on it.”
“Deputy Ó Cearúil's reference to drudgery and repetitive tasks brought me back to my days in PricewaterhouseCoopers, where I started as an auditor. There were many repetitive tasks. Specifically on Future Forty, the Tánaiste's predecessor as Minister, Deputy Donohoe, put a very sensible budget in place. He was very anxious to ensure we would be left on safe ground for the future. Future Forty refers to corporation tax as something we cannot necessarily rely on and it also refers to broadening the tax base. Notwithstanding the sensible approach of the previous Minister, we really do need to focus on corporation tax to ensure we do not become overly reliant on it.”
“I welcome the Tánaiste's response especially his view that we have to keep monitoring this. Like every industry, we need to support it as best we can. It can be a fundamentally Irish product and industry. We want to protect it, look after it and enable it to grow considering it has its own difficulties. We all know the difficulties these sort of industries face. We spoke about it earlier with the whiskey industry and a lot of brewers that export to the US but face difficulties in that regard. It is important and incumbent on us to continue to look at this and how we can support the industry. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this with the Tánaiste tonight. I will continue to liaise with him and his Department.”
“Like every other market, it is evolving continually. Microbreweries is an industry that really took off over the past number of years. It has grown really well but at the same has its own difficulties and considerations. There has been some contraction in the industry. There have been a lot of increases in costs which has caused difficulty for some of those breweries. The Tánaiste referenced breweries going together but ultimately there are individual businesses and breweries brewing on behalf of other companies and passing on to them. The problem is the person brewing it, when it has come through those customers, even though they are brewing on behalf of someone else, they can get caught in that. In the end, we might actually be restricting competition by not extending it.”
“I welcome the Tánaiste here in his position as Minister for Finance and extend best wishes to him in his term ahead. My question is to ask the Minister for Finance if his Department has considered increasing the domestic excise duty threshold for Irish brewers from the current 30,000 hl, previously set at 20,000 hl prior to 2019, and if he will make a statement on the matter.”
“Often we see the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, and the living cities initiative funding going to these older towns to regenerate them. Often the towns that are missing out are those such as the Tánaiste's own town of Greystones, and Bray, Leixlip, Naas, Maynooth and Kilcock. How do we introduce a scheme that can benefit those towns in a similar way to the living cities initiative?”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for allowing me in. The Tánaiste would be surprised if I heard about the liveable cities and towns and potential economic benefits going to other areas and I did not take the opportunity to mention north Kildare and the need for regeneration of the towns in the context of the liveable cities. I am talking about liveable towns and how we can widen the scope of the scheme, which is obviously welcome. Last week, I spoke in the House about the housing Bill and the benefits of it. I referenced that when benefits are introduced, a lot of the time we see the small scale to the small towns and village and a significant amount of grant funding going rural communities.”
“They are the types of issues we need to support, and I will be asking when the URDF funding comes out that north Kildare is looked on very favourably in order that we can deliver the facilities that need to go in behind the housing that ultimately will go into our area.”
“It does not have huge old buildings and wide streets, but what it does have is a lot of small, old villages that ultimately now have rings of houses around them. However, they do not have the infrastructure, and they do not have the facilities. I spoke in this Chamber before about how between the towns of Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth, there is currently a population of 53,000, and that will expand significantly. We have a university, but we do not have a proper community centre. We do not have a cinema or a theatre. We do not have basic fundamental items that would be in a city that would encompass that number of people. Also, Kilcock is only a few minutes away, as is Clane.”
“Previous speakers have spoken to their own experiences because, ultimately, in an area like housing, we are especially aware of how our own area is. When I talk about the story of north Kildare, I speak to where we have a lot of housing. We have a lot of housing in the likes of Naas, Leixlip, Celbridge and Kilcock. We all know those areas have had a relative boom in housing numbers but, ultimately, what those places are lacking is infrastructure, and they have lacked in infrastructure. I also think about urban regional and development, URDF, funding over the last number of years. Typically, it has gone before to areas such as large towns where there might be a courthouse or an old building that needs doing up. Millions of euro are poured into these older towns. That is the one thing north Kildare does not have.”
“I want to take the opportunity to discuss my experience from a housing perspective. As someone who has been a councillor in County Kildare for a number of years and, indeed, a town councillor before that, I have seen the different tranches. I have seen a housing boom and a housing bust, and now I have seen continuing price increases in housing. We have seen that a lot of those houses have become out of reach for ordinary people. A lot of our friends and families have not been able to buy in the area and have had to move outside of the area, unfortunately. That is the reality, however. I would see this housing plan as a significant step in trying to allay that and to ensure that we do get development in our areas and in our towns and villages.”
“Ultimately, energy is going to be the key demand for the rest of this century and into the future. The demands on energy will not come down and there will be key demands from a commercial energy perspective. I asked the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, why prices were as they were. It said 30% of the prices are set but the other 70% are set by the wholesale. The excuse for this was that we are in the position of last supply. We have to take the price from the UK or wherever else we get it. Ultimately, that is not good enough. We need to deliver our own energy and invest in our own infrastructure, whether wind farms or solar, but we need to do it quickly.”
“The one sure fire way for people to reduce energy costs is by looking at their own houses, whether through the landlord or homeowner. That is key. In my previous role, I was CFO for a solar company that grew, developed and built. You could see the importance of solar energy in the houses and the pay off. If you invested, you would have it paid off in six or seven years and after that, you would benefit into the future. We saw the effectiveness of TAMS on farms and the benefits for commercial companies. We need to keep pushing forward on that. Previous speakers spoke about the need for infrastructure improvements and that is a key focus. The demand is there but roofs are still not covered in the way they need to be. We need to place a strong emphasis on that and continue to push that in the years ahead.”
“I am a member of the infrastructure committee and we have had various groups in. We had Gas Networks Ireland and ESB Networks before us last week, and today we had the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. All of these bodies are there to be pushed and we have to ask them whether they are delivering on behalf of the State. The utilities tell us they have the money, the funding and the ability to deliver on behalf of the people. I have come from a committee meeting where I pushed the CRU on whether it was delivering on behalf of the people. We know it has increased its staff numbers from 113 to 180 in the past year or two. This has been done so it can put pressure on the utilities to ensure we can get the prices down. We have not spoken enough about investment in individual houses and this is something we need to discuss.”
“It is important that we discuss this and that we do so thoroughly. At this time of the year we are more conscious than ever of this issue. Many of us are homeowners and we live in our homes. A lot of us here also rent. We have bills during the summer but as we face the winter a different set of costs often come onstream from a gas perspective, and this puts it back on homeowners. In recent years we have had the energy credits and they have made it easier for a number of people as prices reach their highest levels in the history of the State due to what happened in Ukraine. The previous Government looked to provide support but the theme of the budget was that we needed to move away from one-off payments and to invest in our future. Each week we see plans announced to invest in the coming years and energy is no different.”
“Areas such as west Dublin and north Kildare have not been found wanting in housing development but we need the critical infrastructure to go with this. I ask the Taoiseach to raise this issue with the Minister for Transport and ensure the timetable for 2030 is brought back to 2026, as it was before.”
“Today I welcome our new infrastructure plan, which will shape the future of Ireland. Our many goals include fast-tracking planning for critical projects and reforming judicial reviews to stop endless delays. I want to highlight one project that has not been subject to a judicial review but seems to have come off the rails and has been delayed now for four years. The DART+ South West project seems to have been put out until 2030. Today we heard that the M50 is officially full and this would have taken the pressure off. This project will be a game changer for the areas of north Kildare and west Dublin. Considering the growth of population and the proposed growth of these areas, we need to ensure this rail project gets back on track.”
“This tax on unrealised gains undermines compounding and penalises prudence. We need to change this. I will follow my question to the Taoiseach with one to the new Minister for Finance. Can we change this so that investing can be democratised and the ordinary people of Ireland have another safe mechanism to grow wealth?”
“How we treat Irish investors does not make sense from a tax perspective. In the past, the primary way Irish people built wealth in Ireland was to buy additional properties, but for the vast majority this is currently out of reach. All the statistics tell us that Ireland has never been richer and, indeed, personal savings are at an all-time high. However, the scourge of personal savings is obviously inflation. People need to put their money to work. In other countries, exchange-traded funds, ETFs, are a logical and sensible way for ordinary people to invest in their families' future. In Ireland, however, the ordinary investor is hamstrung by the need for deemed disposal, which requires investors to pay a 38% exit tax on unrealised gains every eight years, even if they have not sold them.”
“Separately, I asked whether it was possible that someone with a criminal background could have a beneficial interest in a centre and I was told that the Department "could not say for sure on that." For me, that was not good enough and I immediately sought a recommendation that any owners of IPAS centres who applied to house IPAS applicants must declare and confirm as a legal obligation who the beneficial owners of the centres applying were. This would ensure full disclosure and transparency of ownership. I ask the Tánaiste that this be actioned immediately.”
“The issue I wish to raise today is the whole issue of ownership of IPAS centres and, indeed, who exactly the beneficial owners of those centres are. In the public accounts committee recently, it was highlighted that €1 billion was spent on commercial providers, of which €230 million was given to seven providers, with one of those receiving close to €50 million. As one of my following questions, I asked a straightforward question of a senior departmental official about whether the Department always knew who the beneficial owners in these companies were. The answer given was that the Department did not necessarily always have that detail.”
“I want to raise the issue of childcare and the Government's long-terms goals but I will focus maybe on the short-term goals. Our main goal coming into government was to reduce the cost of childcare to €200 per month and to increase accessibility through investment in key locations, which required it. In north Kildare, families in Maynooth, Kilcock, Leixlip, Celbridge and Naas are struggling to get childcare. We want to give people the best opportunity to get back into the workforce as they request and require. A key issue is affordability. We need to increase capacity and provide staffing. What can we look to do in the short and medium term, ahead of the long-term strategy?”
“We need a system that works better and more quickly and that ultimately gets decisions made. If people are not entitled to be here, so be it. People will have to know that when they come here, they will have a limited opportunity, or otherwise, to stay here. A vast number of people who have come to this country have contributed greatly and that is not to be questioned at all. We would all say that but we deserve transparency and accountability from the Departments that deal with this. I have seen significant issues in my area. The State has used places – such as Ryevale House near me – where there was no proper planning permission or water resources, and no proper education provided for the people. I would question the Department and seek to continue to ensure that we do so.”
“We have to stop that and question it, because if we do not we will not be serving the best interests not only of those who elect us but also others in the State who deserve our full support in many different ways. If people are arriving through the UK and have not sought asylum there, we must ask why. I do not want to use any term that might be misconstrued, but is this State seen as a place where they feel they might have a better chance of gaining asylum? If so, we must ask why it might be the case. Ultimately, the Minister finds himself in a difficult situation. He was appointed to the role last year. The Department was restructured for a specific reason. Obviously, it was not working well enough previously. The Minister is trying to resolve some of these difficult issues.”
“We need to continue to ask questions in this regard because, ultimately, as we were told by the Secretary General of the Department of justice, 80% of people who come to this country fail to secure residency. Deputy Nash questioned that number but that is the one that was stated to us. Other numbers have been issued since, but at the same time, the percentage given at the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts last week was indeed 80%. Ultimately, if 80% of those who go through the process are not entitled to be here, we must question the system that allows it. We have a neighbour with which we share a border and many seem to be coming over it. In the past, people arriving at our airports were ripping up their passports.”
“In the last century and this one, much of our economy was built on money received from those who went to America and their children who came after them, who still support the people here. We know how difficult it is and we sympathise instinctively with those who have to come here, but at the same time we have to address concerns where they arise. Vast numbers of people in this State have concerns about how their money is spent and who it is given to. We know that €1.2 billion was spent on IPAS centres last year. We also know that only a small number of third-party providers received most of that money. Some received up to €30 or €40 million. We need to ask questions about that. What I am referring to covers all of the sector. Obviously, the IPAS system, in different locations and in different ways, has not worked.”
“Obviously, the worst thing is to attack the most vulnerable, and that is absolutely what happened there. However, to conflate the two issues in a way that only raises the temperature further is dishonest and very unfair on people who are trying to do their best by the State. With regard to IPAS locations, we know how difficult it is for people who come to our country. They leave countries not because they are in a positive situation but because they want a better life. Ultimately, it is difficult for the State and us, as individuals, to talk about this because we have a history of emigration. This country has suffered from considerable emigration over the years. Significant numbers have left our shores for hundreds of years, and no one is more aware of it than ourselves.”
“I must say I am very disappointed listening to what previous speakers have said and how they are characterising this. I think they are using it as an attempt to bring down an issue and to talk about it in a way that is not helpful and essentially disengages a vast number of the people who have a right to ask questions. Two weeks ago at the Committee of Public Accounts, we talked about the significant amount of money that is spent on IPAS. There should be no issue with anybody asking questions about how State or taxpayers' money is spent, how centres or other places are run and who receives the money. We can all decry specific events like those that occurred in Drogheda and we can all say how horrified we are by what people take it upon themselves to do.”
“The biggest single difficulty facing this country is delivery of infrastructure, notwithstanding how we go towards building housing. We need to get value for money across all areas. I am delighted to be able to raise that today in the context of the OPW.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response and the way he spoke regarding his work in the Department since he came in. I know the questions and issues I raised were well before the time of his role with the OPW. It was in that context I raised this. One of the key issues that Fine Gael brought forward and raised ahead of the previous election was the view that we needed to look at the OPW to ensure that expenditure was spent, to my key point, in a way that ensured there was value for money for the taxpayer. All across what we do as a State, and why we stand up here, is ensuring the public gets value for money. We know the difficulties we have. The Minister for infrastructure and public infrastructure is here.”
“Taking that, and the bike shed located at the back of Leinster House, we think about the OPW and the cost overruns we have had in individual areas. I am a member of the public accounts committee, which the OPW will attend in a few weeks. I want to see what the answer is ahead of that because I am sure issues that came up in the past will come up again, no more than they do for any organisation.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I raise this in the context of the OPW being an organisation that has its hands on many properties around the country and manages a huge portfolio of different properties. One that is closest to my heart is Castletown House, which has been a key amenity in the Leixlip-Celbridge area for a number of years, and has been a key focal point for the island. It had well over 1 million visitors in 2022. We do not have access in the same way and decisions were made at the time where it might have asked whether value for money was given in 2022. It was decided by the Minister at the time that we should not go ahead with the purchase of the land but, ultimately, we have to see where that lands in future. Costs have been incurred in that way since.”
“My question is to ask the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the position regarding a departmental review into the way in which the OPW manages projects to ensure value for money for the taxpayer and if he will make a statement on the matter.”
“I know the Minister of State will be looking for this sort of investment to ensure we are in a more robust and better place in order that we can get things back on track sooner, if possible, and in order that networks would not be out any longer than necessary. We can talk about the upfront €1.5 billion investment but by giving the ESB more flexibility to finance its own investments, we can ensure we have the best network possible over the coming years. This Bill is about building a secure future and a secure electricity system. Once again, I welcome the Government's initiative on this.”
“Ireland is in a different space but we need to ensure that with this investment we are able to open the opportunities where possible and where we are best placed to do so, and that includes data centres. As I said at the outset, we need to be conscious of one-off events when we reflect on whether our system will continue to be fit for service in the future. We have climate change and increased storms. There are weather systems that come across, and are probably coming across in the next couple of months. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, knows this better than anyone given that his own area was probably one of the hardest hit by the storm earlier this year, and indeed by the outages that were in his area.”
“The Social Democrats were talking against data centres and about moratoriums, potentially, being put on them. At the same time, we cannot ignore the reality of the future demand that may be coming with the technological changes we have seen in recent years and continue to see, especially in the new realm of AI investment across the world. We can talk about moratoriums but we need to ensure Ireland is not left behind. This legislation will go towards that. We need to ensure we have an electricity system that is able to keep up with the best of other countries. Countries like Denmark and England have faced many of these challenges. It has been less of an issue in France, which has the nuclear energy option that many other countries do not have and we do not have.”
“We are talking about offshore electricity, solar electricity and getting everybody on board in that regard. This is key but to do that we need to update our grid. With this extra money coming into the system, we will be able to invest to ensure we can avail of solar power units. I do not wish to go off topic - perhaps it is in keeping with the topic - when I mention that Freddie and I were lucky enough to be in the new Lidl net-zero shop in Maynooth. We got a tour and we saw how a new development in a new shop with solar panels will be able to be cost-neutral from an energy perspective. I think we have to go that way. As our previous speaker outlined, we have continuing new demands on our system. This is where we have to talk about supporting our economic and digital growth. We all know that data centres will be required.”
“I have met many developers, no more than other Deputies, and I understand the sorts of issues they face. When houses have been built across north Kildare and elsewhere, we have not been quick enough to get the electricity supply in. That is one of the issues. I hope this legislation will go towards putting in the infrastructure in time to ensure we do not have those delays. My only fear is this: will €1.5 billion be enough to continue with that? I am sure there will be a multi-year approach whereby we will continue to have investment in our electricity system. Obviously, from a national perspective one of the key items we are looking at changing is how we do our electricity and how we work at electricity. Renewable integration is key.”
“Ultimately, anything that brings extra investment in our electrical system, such as the €1.5 billion we are talking about today and the ability to seek the additional loans required, has to be welcomed. I thank the Minister and his team for their foresight and belief in this. I thank the Minister for Finance for putting this forward on budget day ahead of time, considering the demands. I am a member of the infrastructure committee, which will meet tomorrow with the housing bodies and the large developers in Kildare, Ballymore and Glenveagh. Their representatives will come to the committee meeting. I know one of the key issues they will be talking about will be Uisce Éireann and the challenges they have with water, but the electricity supply will be a key focus as well.”
“I welcome Freddie Wasson from Leixlip, a transition year student who is working with me this week. He lost the county final last week and is very disappointed. I hope that working here in the Dáil will improve his mood before he heads back to school next week. I welcome what we are discussing and I welcome this Bill. As a TD and someone who was elected as a councillor numerous times, I have always called for investment in infrastructure, especially, with my local hat on, in the Leixlip and Celbridge areas where we have had electricity outages. Since I was elected as a TD, we have seen outages in Kildare and nationally as a result of the storms of last winter.”
“I also see a bowls club developing in Leixlip GAA club. These are the sorts of interaction from a community side that we can really get behind to change individuals' lives. With men's health, we are always thinking about what we can do better. What we need to do is continue to raise awareness among the young, but also among the elderly, about raising these issues with their doctors. Men from all sides are often the last ones to say they need help and to go to a doctor. Today provides us with the opportunity to raise awareness. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me this time. I thank the Minister of State for giving us the opportunity to speak on this.”
“Not only were there 13- and 14-year-old boys engaging as a team, but it also brought the community and coaches together and provided an outlet. They have the ability to go that way but not everybody is involved in sport and that is something we would be conscious of. I have become more and more conscious as time has gone on of the elderly. A previous speaker spoke about loneliness. If anything, loneliness became an even bigger issue during Covid. That is something we should constantly be conscious of. Things like Meals on Wheels can make a massive impact on someone's day and that is something we are all very aware of. The other day, I spoke to someone in Leixlip. Ms Bracey Daniels talked about walking football, what they are able to do with walking football and how that had transformed the social side for many elderly people.”
“We as a Government, and Members on all sides of the House, have a duty to ensure that we do our best and improve these statistics. My uncle was a TD before me and a spokesperson for Fine Gael on mental health. Mental health is something that we need to be conscious of as part of this. Indeed, he introduced the Bill to decriminalise suicide and was at the forefront of leading the mental health discussion in modern Ireland. I think of him today in that regard. I want to speak about a number of different topics, such as the importance of our community and of the role sport can play in our community. Even last night, our under-14s team in Leixlip, which I am a coach for, won a county championship. It was a great win but it showed the importance of community.”
“First of all, I want to reference Danny Hanley and the Movember Ireland team that are here today. They represent many of the issues that we talk about. For too long in this State, men's health, and I suppose health in general, has not always been the topic that it should have been and it has been underdiscussed. I welcome the fact that I am able to speak on it today. I think it is the first time in the history of the Dáil that there has been an opportunity for statements such as this. The recently published Movember report outlined that premature death was 40% higher among males compared with females. It also pointed out that the stigma around seeking help was seen as the biggest barrier to men accessing support for their mental and physical health.”
“I also saw the prefabs and the impact they have had on the school over the past 18 years. The big question on the lips of many parents from Celbridge to Naas, and from Maynooth to Kilcock, is where their children will go to secondary school next year. That is also a serious issue. I have two asks today. Can we ensure that in the capital plan there are additional places for new secondary and primary schools in north Kildare? More importantly, can we have an answer on the three-school campus?”
“Last week, I spoke about the need for infrastructure in north Kildare. Today I am speaking specifically about the need for more school infrastructure. Earlier this year, I visited St. Patrick's National School in Celbridge, which has been operating out of temporary prefabs for the past 18 years. It is planned that the school will be part of a new three-school campus along with St. Raphael's Special School and Celbridge Community School. The new campus has been delayed. It should have been in place by now but we have not got there. There are students who entered the school's prefabs on their first day in junior infants and have graduated from sixth class. I appreciate temporary buildings are needed but they are by nature temporary rather than permanent. On my visit to the school, I saw at first hand the dedication of the school community.”
“I know budgets mean difficult decisions. I have been part of those decisions in small ways in a business. I know that, in the budget, those decisions made are in the best interests of the future of our country.”
“We want to make sure that money is spread around because sometimes there are issues where the fast-growing areas like Kildare, Meath and Wicklow are left out of things a little. Often, we talk about the need for rural development. I fully agree. We talk about the need for a Dublin task force. I fully agree. What often gets left behind is the belt around and in between those two places, where the population has grown the most and where most houses are being delivered but we do not see the same community investment in these areas. Last week, I spoke about the towns of Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth. They are all touching base with each other. Between the three towns there is a population of 53,000 and they do not have a theatre, swimming pools or even a proper community facility, other than relying on local clubs.”