Kildare towns do not have infrastructure to match housing development – TD

A Fine Gael TD for Kildare North has spoken in the Dáil this week on the lack of infrastructure and essential facilities in towns in North Kildare, despite a growth in housing numbers.

Deputy Joe Neville was speaking in the Dáil yesterday (December 3 2025) when 'Housing Plan: Statements' came before the House.

Addressing the House, Deputy Neville said he spoke as one with experience of being a councillor for a number of years, and one who was a town councillor before that.

He had witnessed, he said, a housing boom and a housing bust, and had seen continuing price increases in housing, pushing housing beyond the reach of many ordinary people.

However, he said, he would see the housing plan as “a significant step” in combatting the problem, and ensuring that we get development in our towns and villages.

READ NEXT: Sixth-class students in Kildare North not guaranteed secondary school places - TD

Deputy Neville said: “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. 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.”

Deputy Neville said these are the types of issues that need to be supported; he said that when URDF funding is made available that he will be asking that North Kildare is looked on “very favourably.”

This would ensure, he stated, that essential facilities will be implemented as well as the housing that will ultimately go into our towns and villages.