'Mayo has been treated as an afterthought' – TD calls for major infrastructure investment

During a recent Dáil Éireann debate on the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026, Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh urged the Government to take immediate and decisive action to address significant deficits in critical infrastructure across County Mayo.

The Sinn Féin representative highlighted what she described as persistent underinvestment in essential services, including transport, healthcare, housing, water provision, and pier maintenance, warning that communities across Mayo are being left behind and forgotten.

Addressing the chamber, Deputy Conway-Walsh said that Mayo has been treated as an afterthought when it comes to infrastructure investment.“Our communities deserve the same level of services and opportunities as anywhere else in the country,” she said.

She stated that without meaningful investment in local and regional roads, hospitals, housing, water services, and digital infrastructure, the county cannot attract jobs, support local enterprise, or provide reliable public services.

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The Mayo TD also reiterated her long-standing call for the R312 - the primary route linking the Erris region to Castlebar - to be designated as a strategic regional road, enabling access to funding for long-overdue upgrades.

“This road is a lifeline for the Erris region, used daily by ambulances and patients travelling to Mayo University Hospital, which is itself facing ongoing capacity and overcrowding challenges,” she said.

She further raised concerns about water services across the county, noting that some communities remain on long-term boil water notices.

“Others have no water at all because Uisce Éireann has outsourced responsibility for water provision to failing private water schemes.” 

Deputy Conway-Walsh also pointed to significant delays in delivering a wastewater treatment plant in Newport, now not expected to be completed until the 2030s. In the meantime, she said, untreated wastewater continues to be discharged into Clew Bay.

“These are critical pieces of infrastructure that are essential for balanced regional development,” she said, adding that the Government’s piecemeal approach and slow delivery have only deepened regional inequality.

“We need a coordinated and properly funded critical infrastructure plan for Mayo and the west, delivered without delay,” she added.