Breathnach says Fine Gael lacks vision or ambition for public transport in Louth

Louth Fianna Fáil TD Declan Breathnach, has criticised what he describes as "Fine Gael’s co-ordinated and targeted attack in response to legitimate questions asked about its Climate Action Plan", and said it is "typical of a Government which is more concerned about spin than substance."

Labeling the Fine Gael claims "fake news", he warned that it was an "attempt to distract from Fine Gael’s total absence of vision or ambition for public transport in Louth."

He explained: “A press release issued by Fine Gael on behalf of Deputy O’Dowd stated that the ‘Ardee bypass would be threatened under Fianna Fáil’.

"A dozen press releases saying the exact same thing about other road projects across the country were simultaneously issued by the Fine Gael spin office.

“Let me be very clear", said Deputy Breathnach, "this could not be further from the truth. Fianna Fáil is fully supportive of the Ardee bypass. I have raised the matter on numerous occasions in Dáil Éireann and directly with the Minister for Transport.

“In pointing out the glaring anomalies in the Governments Climate Action Plan, which is at odds with its National Development Plan, Fianna Fáil highlighted the total failure to articulate a vision for the future of public transport. 

"This is particularly disappointing for County Louth, where we have a huge population who commute into Dublin city and are dealing with a rail service suffering from serious under investment and over capacity."

The Louth TD continued:

“Fine Gael clearly cannot process the idea that you can both support key infrastructure development in Ardee and still demand proper investment and new ambition for our rail services. 

"They just do not get the need for investment in rail services and think that unwarranted attacks on me will discourage me from fighting for my constituents.  They could not be more wrong”, concluded Deputy Breathnach.