I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on his reappointment.
Rural Development: Statements.
Cuireann sé áthas orm a bheith sa Seanad inniu agus deis a bheith agam labhairt faoi fhorbairt na tuaithe in Éirinn. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach as comhghairdeas a dhéanamh liom.
We all realise that there are many challenges to the goal of rural development, both within Ireland itself and coming from outside. An objective analysis of where Government is placed to meet this challenge shows us having a solid foundation on which to build our plan of work. To my knowledge I am the only Minister with responsibility for rural development in the European Union who is not also a Minister for agriculture and this shows that the Government believes that rural development, and agriculture, fisheries and forestry are so significant that two separate Cabinet Ministers should have responsibilities for these important issues. It also shows that rural development, though complementary, is a separate issue from the industry of agriculture.
Looking at the principal parameters within which Government operates, there is a clear mission to develop rural communities. The Government's White Paper on rural development sets out as a key part of its future vision and policy that:
The Government is committed to ensuring the economic and social well-being of rural communities, to providing the conditions for a meaningful and fulfilling life for all people living in rural areas and to striving to achieve a rural Ireland in which there will be vibrant sustainable communities.
According to the programme for Government, "Vibrant rural communities are vital to the future of our nation." This is the clear policy framework within which the Government and I, as Minister, must operate.
The European Union shares our values on rural development and is committed to rural development in its wider sense, as well as being committed to agriculture. Commissioner Fischer-Boel has been particularly engaged in preserving and developing rural populations across Europe. The EU takes a wide view of rural development as total community development. One of the main objectives in supporting rural development as set out in Article 4.1(c) of the 2005 Rural Development Regulation is "...improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging diversification of the rural economy."
Within Pillar 2 alone of the European Rural Development Programme, €2.4 billion is set out for a range of rural development measures in Ireland over the period from 2007 to 2013. I am particularly pleased to announce that next week my Department will proceed with the new rural development programme. Under this programme, our funding of €425 million, three times what it was before, will see an investment of almost €1 billion in measures to develop rural enterprise and quality of life in the period to 2013, obviously made up of European and national money as well as private investment. I believe that a "Yes" vote in the upcoming referendum on the EU reform treaty will strengthen Ireland's position within the European Union, and will support Ireland, as a negotiator and as an ally of other countries with similar concerns, in continuing to pursue our strong rural development policies.
One of the provisions in the EU reform treaty that is of particular relevance to my work as Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and the work of my Department, is the enshrinement of the concept of equality across all regions, urban and rural. The White Paper states:
Among the regions concerned, particular attention should be paid to rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, and areas which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as the northernmost regions with very low population density, and island, cross-border, and mountain regions.
This mirrors our national commitment, through my Department, in programmes such as CLÁR, RAPID, the community services programme, the rural social scheme, support for islands communities and so on.
To explain how my views on rural and agriculture development developed over the years and my journey to the firm belief in the importance of both, I would like to share with Senators my background in this regard. As many Members will probably know, I was brought up and educated here in Dublin. Having completed university, and having an interest in the Irish language which is mainly spoken as a community language on the west coast of Ireland, at the age of 23 I became manager of a small community farmers' co-operative. I was the first employee of the co-operative. It was registered as a farmers' co-operative and the initial idea was to develop and improve farming services, particularly through the intensive fattening of hill lambs.
During its early years, the co-operative focused on agriculture. However, very quickly two issues changed fundamentally not only the direction of the co-operative but also the direction of the local community. One was the difficulty in an area of very poor marginal land of an agricultural co-operative becoming viable, which was a challenge that took me a long time to crack. The other issue was the realisation, very early on, that no matter how much was invested in agriculture, it would in no way sustain the local population, and that what was needed was economic diversification of the rural economy and the creation of off-farm jobs. I am glad to say that through the efforts of the co-operative, there are now 200 industrial jobs in the region and that the population decline has at last been stemmed. Agriculture, although still important to the local economy, is no longer its mainstay and the vibrancy of the community is linked around a multifunctional, multidimensional economy.
Having seen the dramatic effect that such an approach had on a small rural community and seeing this as an incubator or experimental plot, I came to the conclusion that the only possible long-term approach to rural development and halting the rural decline which is pervasive throughout the developed and developing world, was to develop diverse multi-sectoral local rural economies. Such local rural economies should have a mixture of both local enterprise and access to public jobs. A sensible and well-delivered policy of decentralisation of public jobs has a key role to play in developing rural life and releasing the congestion strains on our main urban areas.
I was in India for St. Patrick's Day. When I mentioned I was Minister with responsibility for rural development, they were fascinated. That country has a population of 1.2 billion people, 70% of whom live in rural areas. The nightmare scenario for them is mega-migration, which is happening already. If half of the 70%, 800 million people, suddenly descended on the cities, Senators know what would happen. As we tend to deal with things on such a small scale here, it was very interesting to get some view of the challenge we face in shifting populations as a world community and not our own little community. The only other answer is the one I am proposing, which is to diversify in situ by leaving the people there and bringing the diversification to the communities. In that context I saw a headline recently in a newspaper that stated more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. It stated that people worldwide continue to flee the countryside into the cities. We must ask whether that is socially and economically a good thing, or whether the maintenance of balanced population structures and population stability would not be more desirable. It is not the absolute population of an area that causes problems but rapid shifts of population in terms of the need to build houses and schools. That is a significant problem. The Government believes that is the case, as does the European Union, which has been putting an increasing emphasis on spending in the general rural economy. Some people say that those policies are built on an idealistic view of green fields and frugal living, and that such policies are economic madness. I have heard that said many times. I believe, however, that there are cogent arguments that show that the maintenance of rural populations and ensuring the growth of cities is not at the expense of rural communities not only makes economic sense but also makes social sense. As the Minister with responsibility for urban deprivation as well as rural development, my Department has a bird’s eye view of the challenges facing different communities. From what I can ascertain, the pattern in Ireland is replicated in many developed and developing countries.
The Government believes that rural development is an important engine to ensure the balanced development of our country. It makes no sense in economic terms to have rural areas with a wide range of services, including schools, health centres, social facilities etc., which are under-utilised due to population migration, and at the same time have rapidly growing cities that cannot cope in terms of the provision of those same services because of their burgeoning populations. The second reason, which is a social one, is that examination of deprivation levels in Ireland shows that while the richest communities in the country are urban, it is also the case that the 46 most deprived communities are all urban communities. No rural area in the country has either the social, economic or quality-of-life deprivation issues that are experienced in the most deprived urban communities.
An economic commentator recently pooh-poohed the importance of culture and said it is all about economic growth and that culture is an extra. I puzzle about the huge challenges we face in deprived urban communities — challenges that break my heart because so many of the young people there have no future. They do not get education in large numbers and, unfortunately, the most likely place some of them will end up is in prison. Many of the deprived areas are located in a ring around the M50 in Dublin. I puzzle as to why that is the case, given the proximity of people to all of the jobs that are located around the M50 and the fact that access to university is no problem. Universities and jobs are on those people's doorstep, so why do they not avail of all the opportunities? What is the problem? In rural areas where the parents have had only a primary education large numbers of their children are getting not only secondary but tertiary and fourth level education. I ask myself what is the difference. The conclusion I have come to is that the difference is culture. I refer to culture in the wide sense where it relates to values. Rural people believe in education.
So do urban people.
Yes they do but, unfortunately, not in the same numbers. I do not blame people, but when we examine the statistics, the more rural the area, the greater the number of young people who access higher education, even though the number of parents in those areas who have had third level education is lower. Belmullet is the lowest of all the Gaeltacht areas in terms of parents with third level education, however, up to 75% of children there receive third level education, despite the geographic challenge of getting from Belmullet to even Galway or Castlebar. If we are serious about societal issues, that is a major challenge. I hope I will have another opportunity to come back to the Seanad to debate seriously these issues.
I am passionately committed to RAPID areas in Dublin and elsewhere and I spend a great deal of time in them. In some cases the percentage of young people accessing third level education is as low as 1% or 2%. I ask myself what is the difference. It is not that they have fewer resources in schools, because in many cases the school buildings are better and they have extra teachers. Neither is it the case that people are far away from the colleges, because they are near them, nor that they do not have jobs down the road because they are right beside them. My conclusion is that there is a different culture in those areas. Culture is hugely important. In the context of rural Ireland we are lucky that there has been a strong tradition of community, culture and togetherness. There are much better opportunities per capita for children in rural Ireland. That is not to blame anybody. That is to state a fact.
Let us do something for people who are deprived in urban Ireland. That is what I am trying to do. It makes no sense to push everybody out of the place where we are getting the good outcomes. Ireland is full of contradictions. One day I am told by the experts that nobody wants to live in rural Ireland and asked why we should push them out there. The next day I am told too many people are trying to build houses in rural Ireland. If people are not living there how can that be the case? I believe in building houses only for people who live permanently in rural Ireland. I would like to know how to solve that conundrum. I believe a large number of people want to live in rural Ireland. What we see constantly is that young people want to migrate to the cities when they reach the age of 18 and have a great time. However, when they settle down and have children they suddenly realise that rural Ireland was a great place to live when they were young. The Government should offer people the choice. We should not try to direct anybody. I believe in a free country. If I want to live in the city, I will live in the city and if I want to live in the country, I will live in the country.
That is not the way it is.
Exactly. My challenge is to create that free choice. Having decided that is what we have to do, we must decide what policy measures are required to achieve the objective. Second, we have to question whether the policies are adequate for the purpose. We have done a number of things. We have set up the CLÁR programme and introduced the sustainable rural housing guidelines. We are involved in decentralisation and rural proofing of Government policy. Next week we will launch the biggest and best Leader rural development programme worth €425 million. We introduced the rural transport initiative and the rural social scheme. We are engaged also in rural recreation and the exploitation of the significant resources Ireland has in terms of rural tourism.
To achieve the objective of developing rural life we need to recognise that all organs of state have an obligation to recognise Government policy and to be involved in bringing it through to fruition. I accept that we have not achieved our goal yet because the way I measure how well I am doing is to look at the population statistics and standard of living. I will not have achieved my goal until the population in the most rural area is growing and the standard of living is rising. Population is at the core of developing life in rural Ireland. It is easier to provide services and to stimulate diversification of the rural economy when there is a stable or growing population. That is something to which our planners will have to face up.
But they are not.
I know.
You are the Minister.
I do not have direct control over planners.
The Minister should be allowed to speak without interruption.
I do not question the integrity of planners, but I question a certain mindset that is evident. I spoke to every county manager in the country on the matter. In fairness they all turned up. I said to them that there is no point in the State investing €425 million in rural development, which means that we will have to build structures, and then find that no matter how sensible, cogent or good for a community it is, one cannot get planning to go ahead with an enterprise. When I travel around rural Ireland I see some of the major dairy industries located in Ballyragget, in Kilkenny, or in Listowel, marvellous places which were built 30 or 40 years ago. If they wanted to build them today, I know where they would be told to go.
The other problem is that planners and the professional people often only see a hierarchy of cities, towns, gateways and hubs and they use that most obnoxious phrase, the rural hinterland. The national spatial strategy is committed to rural communities. When we talk about rural communities we mean towns of 1,500 or less and the rural countryside. We are not talking about regional balance in terms of Galway, Cork and Limerick. We are talking about rural development.
I did not understand this growing up because I come from Dublin and was ignorant of the countryside in many ways but it was only when I went to live in rural Ireland that I realised a different geography operated that only those who live there fully understand, that of the townland. If one organises a canvass, the stations or many of the other activities that take place in rural communities, they are always divided up by townlands. I know to the last house what is in each townland in my area. I have learned all of that in my time.
When I was getting married my wife said to me, "Caithfimid cuireadh a thabhairt go muintir Baile-Lugh". She comes from Spiddal but fortunately for me she only meant the townland. We live on the edge of County Galway. Next Sunday or any other Sunday we are Galway, not Mayo, even though I can look out my window and see Mayo. The townland is real and it means a great deal to people. It is very much an organisational structure. It has the parish, and I need not tell anybody here that people would——
Die for the parish.
They would die for the parish. They will certainly play hard for the parish.
For the honour and glory of the little villages and parishes.
There is the county and the province but consistently in our planning we ignore that hierarchy as if it did not exist. When the Taoiseach went home to Offaly last weekend the people got two messages — first, that Offaly was very important and, second, that he had to go to Clara. The end had to be Clara. It could not be Tullamore. The county town might be a fine place and he might live there but it did not matter. It had to be Clara because it is the town from which he comes. We must ensure we continue to allow those two hierarchies to live in an uneasy equilibrium but we must not ignore the second hierarchy.
Drawing together the main strands of the clear and rational rural policy objectives and the binding ties of rural Ireland, my main point is that if we want to develop life in rural Ireland, we need people there and if we need people they will need houses, jobs, facilities and a social life. A large number of rural areas are now in a period of rapid growth but these are mainly the so-called peri-urban areas within 30 or 40 miles of the major cities and towns. The population in the rural areas outside the influence of major cities and towns remains stagnant and, in many cases, is in decline. I am willing to admit that until that is reversed and the most rural of our areas are stabilised, we will not have achieved our policy goals.
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus déanaim comhghairdeas leis.
Like the Minister, I come from an urban area but I spent my summers in a farming community in the north Cork-Kerry border area. Listening to the Minister, however, I thought I was living in a parallel world. While I hope he continues his emphasis on the townland and rural Ireland, and I welcome the fact that, nine months later, a Leader programme will be announced next week about which the Minister will get no argument from this side of the House, an analytical survey of the current position would indicate that despite the vast sums of money being spent, provincial and rural Ireland is in economic crisis. Every day we read about it in regional newspapers, talk to people, meet our cousins and our neighbours and listen. Businesses and public houses are closing, small firms are collapsing and post offices are being shut down in rural Ireland.
The Minister spoke eloquently about rural Ireland but what has happened to our local creamery, marts and shops, and the bed and breakfast houses that we saw locally when we were growing up? They are all gone yet those regions were thrown a hypocritical lifeline in the botched decentralisation plan, to which the Minister referred in his contribution, and the bizarre national spatial strategy. We are facing a meltdown in that regard. On a recent "Late Late Show" programme Fr. Harry Bohan and other panellists discussed that issue and one got a real sense of what community and rural Ireland means today.
One of the biggest difficulties the Minister must address is social exclusion. That refers to the structures and processes that exclude not just people but individuals and groups from their full participation in society. As we are aware, social exclusion can take many different forms, be they economic, legal, cultural, social or political, with multiple and mutually reinforcing effects. It is not just about lack of investment but isolation, unemployment, lack of educational and work opportunities and discrimination.
In 2002, Heanue wrote in a report that the lure of employment opportunities pull people out of rural areas. The Minister made reference to that in his contribution. At the same time, the absence of social and cultural amenities in the rural area, which are a direct consequence of low population base, act as a significant push factor out of the area. The strength of the pushing and pulling forces is amplified by an ever increasing expectation of a better educated and more mobile rural population, to which Heanue referred.
The Minister spoke about the urban area but as a school teacher I am aware that one of the biggest difficulties being experienced in urban areas is class sizes. I support his point regarding the issue of rural Ireland and the quality of education but we have a smaller class size and a smaller base. Despite the vast sums of money being invested in RAPID areas, we are losing the battle in many urban areas. I would welcome a debate on that also.
The National Economic and Social Forum reported on a number of distinct social groups which experience social exclusion in rural Ireland. The report mentioned a number of characteristics associated with rural poverty and social exclusion including high levels of invisibility, out-migration of the post-primary education and working cohorts, which the Minister mentioned in his contribution, sparse population trends, the decline in the relative contribution of agriculture, infrastructural difficulties and physical isolation.
The national spatial strategy is a failed plan. The gateway towns about which the Minister spoke have failed to develop coherently and we continue to see massive development around the eastern hub of Dublin. A total of 40% of our population is located in and around the Dublin area. An analysis of the job losses in rural areas suggests that they were older, traditional style companies and not ones based on modern technology.
Fr. Harry Bohan used a great phrase one time at a conference and it is an important point we should examine. He stated, "The Celtic tiger, wonderful though it is, may have made us lose touch with people, place, roots and soul". That is a fundamental point because from interacting with people in rural Ireland I am aware there is a sense of isolation from services. They feel economically isolated. The sense of community is being eroded and there is an erosion of services.
Like the Minister, I believe we are a predominantly rural country and we must preserve, enrich and enhance the village, the townland, our small towns and our large towns, which act as a focal point for many rural communities. That requires not just investment from Government but leadership. I would welcome an independent survey on the way we as a nation attach value to our rural communities because if we take out the GAA, the school and the church, which is at their core, what is left?
I made reference earlier to the fact that our local creamery is gone, as are the local marts. The Minister spoke about the stations. Today many people are opting out of the stations in their homes and prefer to have them in the church. Before, the stations was a time when everybody came together, painted the house, cleaned up the whole place and it was a great celebration. We have lost that. In tandem with this the local pubs and post offices are under siege.
Many businesses are opting not to do business, so that there is a disconnectivity. In yesterday's Irish Examiner and other newspapers it is reported that key social organisations and other bodies are joining with the Irish Postmasters’ Union to lobby for local post offices to be kept open. What are we at? Will rural Ireland be dictated to now just by pure economics? Given the Minister’s speech and his passionate views, I do not believe that to be the case. For once, can we look at the social value of services in rural Ireland? If we are serious in intent about life in rural Ireland, then we should be advancing connectivity, not isolation. We educate our young people, and they leave for university and get better paid jobs. Many of them want to return but cannot for economic reasons. That means isolation for the people left behind.
The national development plan speaks of vibrant rural communities being vital to the future of the nation and we all subscribe to that. I contend, however, that under the last 11 years of the Celtic tiger, rural Ireland has suffered at the hands of a Government which has failed to manage the cost and competitiveness issues. We have not addressed these and have failed to put sustainable infrastructure into many rural areas, as the recent report published by Agri Aware shows. Are we serious about the national spatial strategy with its objectives concerning more balanced regional development? We need infrastructural development for rural Ireland. I ask the Minister to advocate and promote in Cabinet this emphasis on rural development, so that it has a prime focus. I look forward to next week's unfurling of the Leader programme, to see what we have in store. In terms of innovation and economic dynamism, rural Ireland is not at the game in terms of broadband, roads and the cost of doing business. Other Ministers speak about third and fourth generation broadband. Many parts of rural Ireland do not have first generation broadband.
Large towns act as the hub in the gateway, in rural Ireland, and they need investment. They need oxygen to survive, to be regenerated. Take the town of Macroom, for example, in the constituency of Cork North West, which badly needs a ring road to help it grow and develop and be a focal point. We are told it will be 2015 before it is ready. Then there is the centralisation of medical and health services. As the Minister knows, the trend now is for the development of centres of excellence, with immense consequences for individual families and carers. Then there is the increasing elderly population with the need for care in the home, community based respite beds and places for continuity of care. How and when will these be provided under present Government policy?
I agree with the Minister that the reform treaty should be passed and I hope that the people in rural Ireland and those involved in agriculture will support it, and not link it to the WTO talks. There is a tendency to blame Commissioner Mandelson, and rightly so. However, we need to pass the Lisbon treaty. I ask the Minister to look at the cost of doing business in rural Ireland so that people in relocating industries may have a more competitive advantage. Farming has changed, and it has barely been mentioned today. The average age of people farming today is 55 years and over, with just 8% under 35 years.
The issue of planning needs to be addressed. I will support the Minister, as will my party, if we have can have planning reform in rural Ireland, where the growth in some towns and villages has occurred at the expense of others, due to planning restrictions on one-off housing. Let us have a real debate about planning and tell our planners, who in many cases have no concept of what it means to live in rural Ireland, to listen to those of us who do. In some cases the planning system is creating a two-tier Ireland.
My final reference is to pub closures. I am not advocating drink driving, or anything like that, but the demise of the pub, which was a focal point for many rural communities, has left many people isolated, lonely and vulnerable. As the former Labour Party Deputy, Dr. Moosajee Bhamjee, said recently, to some extent this is contributing to suicide among the elderly. For many older people the pub was a social centre and created a sense of togetherness. We need integrated transport and social and amenity facilities for people in rural Ireland. Many people today believe that we are investing a great deal of money, but there is no action. The reality is that modern rural life is different to what the Minister eloquently described earlier. I wonder whether it is a better place. Is the legacy of 11 years of the Celtic tiger about people losing touch with themselves? I hope it will not be, but I believe it is.
I dtosach is mian liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire agus tréaslú leis de bharr a cheapacháin arís mar Aire Rialtais. Is cruthú ann féin é sin go bhfuil sách jab déanta aige, agus tá an-áthas ormsa go pearsanta go mbeidh sé in ann leanúint ar aghaidh leis an obair a bhí idir lámha aige — agus go raibh rud é ar a shaothar i gcónaí.
A famous Irish Fenian and patriot from Tipperary, Charles J. Kickham, had a great understanding of the culture of rural Ireland, which could be found in many of his writings as well. He used to talk about doing things for the honour of the little village, and this was epitomised in his character, the great hurler, Matt the Thresher in the play, "Knocknagow". We understood what he meant by doing things for the honour of the little village and in no place is that spirit more evident than in rural Ireland. When I was a young lad I was in a juvenile theatre group and performed in "Knocknagow". Unfortunately, I did not get the part of Matt the Thresher, but rather Beresford Pender, who was the landlord's agent in those times. I have not been able to get rid of that from my psyche since then. However, I well recall when those plays were being done in Tipperary and, I am sure, elsewhere, that in many ways they still reflect a spirit that existed right up to the present.
One thinks of people such as Monsignor Horan, Canon Hayes, Fr. McDyer and all of those who realised the importance of organising the people into doing things for themselves. I believe that the Minister has a great claim to canonisation, although I am not suggesting this today. Not only has he the gift of bi-location, but he has the gift of multi-location. There is not a part of Ireland in his portfolio that he has not touched. He has been in every townland and village and not just for ceremonial purposes. He listens very carefully to what people are saying and brings that back to where the powers can look at it and create new policies.
I was talking last week to a county manager and we made reference to the new relationship or partnership which exists between public institutions and the community. We both agreed there has been a huge development in this regard. He finished up by saying, "But we need to be careful that we do not over-institutionalise it". I knew what he was saying, as does the Minister, because he realised that we had too many agencies in our community. One after the other a new bureaucratic structure is coming into existence and the emphasis is more on the membership of that rather than on what the focus and the policy should be. With great courage this county manager put his head above the parapet and endeavoured to bring cohesion into the process so that people dealt with one single agency rather than several, some of which were competing for the same funding. That was a step in the right direction.
Has the Minister received any word from the European Commission on the matter raised by the Cavan-Monaghan Leader group? It is an issue in which clarity is needed.
I am pleased we are discussing diversification into non-agricultural activities in rural Ireland. It is vital it is done and not left too long. While farming will always be at the heart of rural Ireland, according to the Irish Rural Dwellers Association one third of the population live in rural areas, a sizeable proportion. With the status of agriculture being redirected and new priorities coming to the fore, other areas of economic activity must be examined. Tourism is a vital activity which is important to rural areas because it does not depend on centralised attractions in large urban areas. A heritage site in the most rural part of the country could be an attraction for discerning tourists, both from home and abroad. It is important to find the means to develop tourism and ensure there is support for such projects.
FÁS has played a major role in rural communities, often in a quiet way. The State, willingly and rightly, allowed FÁS to fill the gap in training and providing personnel for many community activities, including running community and cultural centres. However, there is a dependence on people employed on FÁS schemes to keep many community activities alive. Such activities cannot be expected to continue if people working on these schemes are removed. If there is to be any change to this, it should be the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, who fills that vacuum. GAA pitches, community centres and cultural centres are part and parcel of the fabric of rural Ireland.
Volunteerism, we are told, has diminished. I do not go with the negative approach that it is dead. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann runs 40 fleadhanna cheoil each year. The 2007 all-Ireland fleadh cheoil was held in Tullamore, County Offaly, with an attendance of 230,000 people and generated between €25 million and €30 million for the region. It was all organised by volunteers. The same can be said for hurling and football games. Financial back-up and resources, however, must be provided, be it 10% or 20% of the amount required to run such events. It represents excellent value for money.
The CLÁR and RAPID programmes have proved they give power to the people. No matter where one goes in Ireland, rural or urban, one can see the results of the programmes. The dormant accounts fund was used so wisely that there was only one debate in the House on how it operated. The schemes sponsored by the fund worked well to the satisfaction of everyone involved.
Bishop Fiachra O'Ceallaigh at a Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann function recently spoke of rural organisations coming together to help those socially deprived. Whether it is related to the demise of the rural pub or social isolation, the organisations have an ideal methodology for dealing with this. The President, Mary McAleese, made the same point in her recent speech, calling on rural organisations, with their own specialised objectives, to look deeper into their heartland and fill the gap and confront any social deprivation due to restrictive legislation, as mentioned by Senator Buttimer. The partnership between the public and the community is important.
The new Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, made two interesting points in recent speeches. First, he spoke of creating a balance between individualisation and the community concept. Borrowing in part from John F. Kennedy's famous dictum, the Taoiseach asked what should our contribution be back to the country. The best vehicle for that is in rural Ireland. With the Leader programme to provide an extra €450 million and given the emphasis of other programmes, it will provide a great opportunity to assist rural communities.
On last week's "The Late Late Show", Councillor Michael Healy-Rae struck a blow for rural communities with regard to one-off rural housing. He held An Taisce to account in front of a mixed rural and urban audience which supported his point. An Taisce is a prescribed body in the planning Act. The Minister and others involved in rural development must ask it to get off some of its hobby horses. If people cannot build on their own land or return from abroad but not get planning permission, what is the point of debating the future of rural Ireland? The future of rural Ireland is about people. An Taisce will have to engage in a practical manner.
The Minister's speech was from the heart. The programme for Government states vibrant rural communities are vital to the future of our nation. I am sure every Member will speak with enthusiasm for this.
Like the Minister, I do not come from a rural background but no one is more than two generations from the country. My mother came from County Armagh where I used to spend my summers as a child. I accept there were difficulties and we were deprived then but there were many positive aspects to our rural communities.
Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú referred to those who acted for rural communities in the past such as Monsignor James Horan, Canon John Hayes and Fr. James McDyer. I recently met Fr. Brophy, who has done something similar in Graiguecullen, County Carlow. I was invited down to speak at a novena, which involved nine days of prayer every Monday for nine weeks. The church was packed. There was benediction, which I had not attended for years — it does not happen in our church — and we sang "Tantum Ergo" and some of the old Latin hymns. It reminded me of the sort of rural community that existed in the past. I raise this point because I believe we will solve this problem only if those in the rural communities do something for themselves. It is not the job of the Government to solve this problem; it is the job of individuals. The job of the Government, as the Minister said earlier, is to allay the situation and make support available so that when people need help to do something, it is there for them. I am sure FÁS is doing something like that.
I have had the opportunity to visit India. Senator Ó Murchú was correct when he spoke about the situation outlined by the Irish Rural Dwellers Association. It pointed out that in 1926, 68% of the population in Ireland were rural dwellers whereas the figure is now 33%. The Minister has just given a figure of 70% for India. Having visited India, I know there is no way that we want to see a population having to live as those in India do, but while they may be very poor, there was a joy in the way of life in the rural community.
I ask myself what we can do, how the Minister can contribute and what will happen. I would also like to address the question of efficiency versus social or, better still, cultural benefits, a term used by the Minister. The areas we are talking about here are the church, which I touched on earlier, and the schools. It was interesting to hear the point made by Senator Buttimer on class sizes, which are too large in the cities and probably too small in the countryside to be efficient. However, we can now rely on other situations. We must find a way to ensure broadband and other developments are introduced. I spoke the other day to a man who lives in a rural area. His daughter is doing a fourth level MBA course with Madrid University from home, 20 hours a week, although I am not sure how she manages it. This is possible but we are very far behind with broadband and must find a solution.
When we talk about efficiency versus social benefit, it is likely we will lose the smaller schools because they do not make sense in the long term. However, there are other ways of supporting that area. We are losing rural shops to a large extent, which I can understand as the marketplace is driving people to the larger supermarkets. There is a danger we are losing the rural pubs as well for various reasons. Much as I regret it, we are likely to continue to lose local Garda stations because it is much more efficient to have them in other locations, although we can battle against this.
I wish to deal particularly with the issue of post offices. I have some experience in this area as I was chairman of the interim board for four years and then of An Post itself for six years. Clearly, our objective was to ensure the post office provided a service but also that it made money and was able to break even or be profitable. While I argued very strongly that this should happen, I question the wisdom of suggesting that the only function of rural post offices is to be profitable and make money. It was interesting to read during the week the argument of the Irish Postmasters Union, which stated it was forming an alliance of other social organisations in this area to argue the case.
When debating the issue of post offices in the House last November, I stated:
We will only solve the problem when we face up to the reality that the post office retail network cannot be justified in purely business terms. We must recognise that rural post offices are a crucial part of a social framework and are vital to our society in a way that they can never be as part of An Post ... To lose the network of remaining rural post offices forever would be nothing short of a national tragedy ... It is inevitable that such will happen as long as we insist on regarding the question in purely business terms. If one expects An Post to pay its way, the death of the post offices is inevitable. If one regards the post offices as performing an important social service that one wishes to preserve, the way to do it is clear, namely, one must support the post offices by a national subvention quite apart from the business revenue that An Post can raise from the network. As a nation, we can only preserve our post offices if we are prepared to pay for them. Are we prepared? We should focus our attention on answering this question.
We will not easily solve the problem of the shops, the pubs, the schools and the Garda stations but we can solve the problems for rural post offices if we can change their attitude so that, to use the Minister's words, they are not aiming solely at efficiency but are aiming at the cultural and social benefits we get from them.
Senator Ó Murchú referred to the Irish Rural Dwellers Association and its concern with the planning situation regarding single houses. The Irish planning Acts were developed back in the 1960s but they were based on the United Kingdom model of urban and town planning, as I believe it is called. We must examine this model. I did not see the television programme referred to today but one of the questions we must address is whether our system of planning is correct and whether the decisions are being made by elected or unelected people, and those who are part of the rural community or those who have a different agenda.
I encourage the Minister's enthusiasm. We are delighted to see him in his current role. We must give him support. While I question some of the decisions that have been made in the past, with proper decision making we can change the situation in rural areas.
I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for his presentation. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue of rural development. When we talk about rural development, it is clear that the economic and social development of rural communities must involve much more than what was perhaps the more traditional model of direct assistance to farm families. Some of the dangers of this kind of model have been highlighted in some of the changes that have taken place recently and the number of farmers who are leaving the land because they no longer can make a decent livelihood in the area of farming.
Changes in the Common Agricultural Policy certainly have caused major perturbations in the agricultural sector. There is now a very welcome focus, at least in terms of economic development in rural areas, on promoting rural enterprise. This involves a change or a slight adjustment in terms of the kind of economic model we are promoting. In the national economy there has been a major focus on trying to attract foreign direct investment and on a more outward-looking approach to developing the economic potential of this country whereas, when it comes to rural enterprise, there needs to be much more of a focus on supporting indigenous enterprise. This was certainly recommended by the 2004 Fitzpatrick report on rural enterprise.
There is a real need for training programmes in the area of agricultural entrepreneurship, in other words, a form of business training for those working on the land, with agricultural options built in so a person who wants to take on a farm or who owns a farm is enabled to transform it into a business based possibly on niche food production, organic food production, specialised horticulture or the development of new forms of energy or energy exploitation. This is the way forward in terms of the economic development of rural areas into the future.
The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is very committed to the idea of rural development. Within the current programme for Government, the Government has committed to implementing proposals for a community development plan which will deliver community facilities in rural areas, such as playgrounds, community centres, local markets, recycling centres, sports and recreational facilities. There is a specific community development fund to the tune of €150 million which will ensure the implementation of this plan over a five-year period. We know vibrant rural communities are vital to the future of the nation. Social development, in addition to economic development, should be the way in which we try to sustain and enhance life in rural areas.
The programme for Government commits to enhancing and extending the rural transport initiative nationwide over the next five years. This is very important. As a representative of a partly rural constituency, Wicklow, I am aware that the issue of rural transport is complex and difficult but that it certainly needs to be tackled. Where rural transport initiatives have been supported, they have been very successful. There needs to be a much broader approach to promoting rural transport under the current programme for Government. I welcome the fact that it is highlighted in the programme as an area of priority.
We need to invest in the provision of broadband in rural areas and the current programme for Government has committed to this. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, recognises——
The Minister cut the fund for broadband. The Senator is speaking out of both sides of her mouth.
That is not the case.
She should get the facts right.
Senator de Búrca, without interruption.
He has made it very clear that the roll-out of broadband——
He took the money from the broadband scheme for use on greener homes. The Senator is speaking out of both sides of her mouth.
Senator Coffey, please.
The Minister will be appearing before the House shortly and if the Senator wants to take it up with him, he is perfectly entitled to do so.
I am correcting the Senator's facts. She is incorrect.
The Minister has committed himself to the roll-out of broadband during this——
The Senator is misleading the House.
Senator de Búrca, without interruption.
——term of Government, especially in rural areas. We recognise this as important.
The Green Minister cut the funds for broadband and that is a fact.
Senator Coffey will have a chance to speak later.
The current programme for Government commits to doubling the funding for the CLÁR programme to enable rural infrastructure deficits to be tackled, and also to establish community and development agencies as one-stop-shops for advice on grant support, business opportunities, training and development and the management of grant spending under the new EU fund for rural development.
The programme for Government also commits to conducting an enterprise audit of existing and redundant agricultural buildings and manufacturing plants in rural areas. There is also an agreement to expand the rural social scheme to provide additional income for farmers and fishermen by increasing the number of places available. A well-funded rural enterprise policy will be provided as part of the programme for Government to focus on a broad spectrum of rural enterprises, with special emphasis on artisan food production and production by small producers.
The programme for Government also commits to initiating a study in consultation with Fáilte Ireland, Leader companies, agriculture associations, county enterprise boards and rural tourism operators to devise a new plan for farm-based rural tourism, including the development of farm-based niche visitor attractions.
Another very interesting and welcome part of the programme for Government in the area of rural development is the introduction of an all-Ireland walkways development plan to map out the infrastructural needs and routes and maximise their use. The Minister has been very involved in working with various stakeholders throughout the country with a view to overcoming some of the problems that attach to setting up the network of countrywide walkways. He has done very important work in this regard and we are making progress in establishing such a network.
Irish Rural Link, which has done a lot of important work in this area, has highlighted rural public transport in terms of rural development. It makes the very significant point that with rising fuel costs, carbon emissions and the possible introduction of a carbon levy, Ireland will need to increase significantly its investment in rural transport and conduct a major reorganisation thereof. We should be considering now how to provide transport in rural areas.
The second issue Irish Rural Link has highlighted, and which is worth mentioning to the Minister, who will be aware of it, is that of rural proofing, as it is called. The organisation pointed out that there is growing consensus among international expert policy organisations that rural policy on its own——
"Rural proofing" is the new buzzword of the Greens.
——will only ever have a limited impact on outcomes in rural areas because most of the policy outcomes result from non-rural Government policy. A recommendation for dealing with this is rural proofing. In the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Finland, mechanisms have been developed to ensure general Government policy is rural proofed. In Ireland, while we began to develop rural proofing structures after the publication of the White Paper in 1999, the process seems to have fallen by the wayside. Will the Minister consider re-examining the issue of rural proofing——
Another quango for the Minister.
——especially with the emphasis we are placing now on rural development?
We should consider introducing a rural services Bill that will introduce a system of measurement in respect of access to services in rural areas. This would cater for the examination of post offices and other such services and their availability in rural areas.
I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on his re-appointment. I noted Senator Ó Murchú called for his canonisation. I assure the Minister that nothing I say or do today will put him in mortal danger. He will be absolutely fine in the wake of contributions from this side of the House.
The sustainable development of rural Ireland is an integral part of the sustainable development of Ireland as a whole. Rural development has two key aims, namely, to enhance the lives of those living in rural communities and to maximise the use of the countryside for the benefit of the nation as a whole. To achieve these aims, we need to concentrate on three key areas. We need to consider our range of agricultural products, including the types of food produced and crops grown; we must protect and promote local heritage and renew villages and towns to encourage rural tourism; and we must help rural communities by assisting local facilities such as shops and post offices.
Organic farming is a fast-growing industry and is set to be worth approximately €16 million per year. This has led to an expansion of high-quality artisan food production. Such food production has become very popular since the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Many farms are beginning to diversify into this area in addition to rearing herds and producing crops. Such innovation by farmers deserves a kind of brand, like the Kerrygold brand, to help them promote their products.
The agriculture sector can diversify from food production to include land conservation and land utilisation for alternative purposes. Forestry, for instance, can play a central role in sustainable rural development. The benefits of reforestation are immense. In these days of rapid climate change, we need to encourage the growth and maintenance of forests with a varied selection of trees and plants. The growth and maintenance of forests can also encourage a wide range of local tourism initiatives.
We should encourage the development and use of old farmhouses and other disused facilities for agritourism purposes. I used to be a director of Meath Leader, now known as Meath Partnership, and during my term in office several grants were given to individuals who wanted to refurbish old farm buildings for tourist accommodation. This was successful and helped to promote local economic growth.
Countryside breaks, walking, cycling and pony trekking should be encouraged to enhance the experience of visitors. We need to encourage small towns and communities to seek help to develop local heritage attractions to better emphasise the uniqueness of every town, village and community. In north-west County Meath, for instance, there is a steam threshing festival in Moynalty. It has become a fast-growing attraction for farmers and tourists alike. Last year 20,000 visitors came to the area. Over the years, the organisers of the festival have established a small museum dedicated to the tradition of threshing. Down the road from Moynalty, the annual Jim Connell festival is hosted by the locals. Hundreds of visitors gather to commemorate the life of the Meath man who wrote the song "The Red Flag", which many Members will know very well.
Celebrating this kind of local heritage is precisely what rural development should mean. Other opportunities can be found in encouraging and supporting schools and local communities to restore local amenities and areas of historic value, such as graveyards. The Minister may be aware of some of the good work done by Meath Partnership in places such as Athboy where a park was renovated. In Kilskyre, in Deputy Johnny Brady's area, a new walkway was created with the assistance of Meath Partnership.
In Bellewstown, assistance to local artists to provide accommodation and to provide workshops also has come about because of the Meath Partnership programme. Such initiatives can be developed in the countryside to encourage people to visit and to sustain local communities. People who come there then can be guaranteed a successful visit and in the process can contribute to the local economy.
The Government, by providing grants to organisations such as Fáilte Ireland and local authorities, can help to encourage the upgrading of local amenities, such as parks and riverside walks, in order that they can be used to the maximum potential. I will cite the example of the Boyne Canal to the Minister. It is an excellent but seriously under-used waterway that could be used by tourists to travel by boat from the historic town of Drogheda all the way up the Boyne to the new Battle of the Boyne site at Oldbridge and then on to Newgrange and up to Slane and Navan. They could stop off along the way at rural communities, thereby helping to sustain and support them.
I believe that investment in such initiatives will help to play a central role to develop rural areas. However, assistance also must be provided in other ways to local communities to strengthen them and help them grow. The Government must consider expanding the support for flexi-bus services to enable people to move around their communities more easily to gain access to necessary amenities and facilities. Moreover, the policy on post offices should be revisited as rural communities will not thrive in the face of constant closures of small post offices and other essential facilities nationwide.
As other speakers have noted, it also may be time to revisit national planning policies in areas that suffer from rural depopulation. In some parts of the country, including parts of County Meath, different areas are under different stresses in respect of one-off housing. It is extremely difficult to get planning permission in some parts of County Meath, which means that young families cannot enter an area. Consequently, fewer children attend local schools and problems then arise suddenly with regard to both sanctioning additional teachers and the existing complement of teachers. A crazy position has arisen whereby some schools in rural areas cannot find enough pupils although school classrooms are overcrowded eight miles away. I know of one family that moved to a rural area. When they told the local school principal the family had three children under the age of four, the principal nearly bit their hands off because suddenly it meant she could continue with her existing complement of teachers. The issue of rural depopulation should be reconsidered in an attempt to work out how schools can be supported. Schools are at the heart of a rural community, as are post offices. This point must be understood and must be supported by reflecting it in national policy.
A combination of factors, including investment in tourism, expansion of agricultural industry and assistance to local community services, can help to ensure both the survival and the success of rural Ireland.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter. I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on his re-appointment as Minister. A perception exists in certain circles that rural Ireland is akin to a pristine wilderness that is to be used at weekends and for holidays. However, Members must acknowledge — as does the Minister — that rural Ireland is a place in which people live. Senator Ó Murchú stated that one third of our population lives in rural Ireland and I agree with him. I am one of those who were born in rural Ireland and who went off to the city to enjoy themselves for ten years or so but who always wanted to return to rural Ireland. One of my inspirations and reasons for becoming involved in politics was to help the lot of rural Ireland by trying to improve and develop it.
I believe the rural development programme, the Leader approach and the CLÁR programmes are helping to address the economic needs and issues in rural Ireland. The allocation of €5 billion alone over the next seven years, of which €2.5 billion will come from the European agricultural fund for rural development, shows the commitment of the Government and the Fianna Fáil Party to the preservation and development of rural Ireland. The relevant schemes have been mentioned, including the diversification of projects, micro-enterprises and farm shops. Farm produce is becoming highly popular and marts are coming back into fashion as people seek more organic produce grown closer to their doorsteps. They know where such produce comes from through local branding, etc. While this is highly important, there is a certain degree of elitism in that. I do not know the reason because I go to my local farm shop and find it to be cheaper than some of the bigger supermarkets and the produce is fresher. Consequently, I do not know the reason this is an elitist matter.
The 12 rural recreation officers that the Minister intends to appoint in respect of rural walkways constitutes an excellent initiative. I ask him to consider the coastline in County Wexford because it is possible to walk from Wexford town to parts of the Hook Peninsula. No coastline walk was included in the aforementioned walkways and this would be a perfect locate in which to place one.
I acknowledge the enormous commitment of the Government towards the development of rural Ireland. However, consideration must be given to curbing its social decline and this must become a priority. As speakers have noted, we are lacking proper planning and development. As the previous speaker observed, in schools that are five miles apart, one has pupils in prefabs while the other is crying out for teachers. This demonstrates serious problems in our planning and development systems. I believe that many of our planners are educated under the English system and consequently, as has been mentioned, they look at the pristine wilderness in which at weekends, there is shooting of rabbits, hunting etc. and coming down from the cities. People who live in the cities have idyllic homes in rural Ireland that they can use at weekends. However, people from the area in question are unable to get housing.
I went to school in Our Lady's Island, which is in the extreme south-eastern corner of Ireland. The principal of the local school, who happens to be my mother, is heartbroken that children in her locality who attended school there must go to bigger areas, such as Kilrane or Bridgetown, where sewerage systems are available. No progress will be made until the issue of sewerage is considered, perhaps involving grouping and clustering sewerage schemes in rural Ireland because An Taisce will object to one-off housing. Moreover, it now appears the pastime of the fisheries boards is to object to every discharge licence that enters a stream. In some parts of Ireland, the soils do not percolate, which gives rise to a problem that must be addressed.
Social housing policy appears to place houses in certain parts of rural Ireland. This gives rise to the position in which one local school is placed under pressure while another does not attract pupils. Localities in which people seek affordable and social housing or which have a local area plan appear to be blossoming and are under serious pressure — even school transport is under pressure from that perspective — while other areas are falling off.
Planners and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government must plan this issue properly and must assess the present position. Sewerage schemes, water mains supply etc. must be brought to rural areas. Under Part V of the Planning and Development Act, which pertains to financial contributions given by builders, etc., the moneys have been directed to a fund for building footpaths, etc., in rural areas and in towns. In general, such amenities were placed in the areas in which building was taking place. However, I am aware of a Supreme Court decision on this issue, which is questionable in itself. This money is no longer there and the funds have dried up because of the present climate. Some form of bridge must be considered to assist local authorities over the next couple of years, while waiting for building activity to pick up again. Perhaps there could be an individual fund for footpaths etc. As a young mother——
One minute remains to the Senator.
Perhaps this subject should be addressed again as several other speakers wish to contribute and there is enormous interest in this issue.
However, as a young mother, it is highly difficult to take a pram on to the road as one taking one's life in one's hands when one ventures out in rural Ireland. People should not be prisoners in their own homes. Some would suggest they are prisoners in their own homes because they are unable to visit rural pubs, which is another issue that must be considered.
As I have the opportunity, I refer to the reduction of the blood alcohol limit from 80 milligram to 50 milligram. I would like to examine the underlying statistics in this respect because I am unsure whether this step is necessary. Perhaps the provision of footpaths should be considered. This would make it safer for people to walk home from the pub. Moreover, I refer to the subject of transport. We should examine whether, under the FÁS or CLÁR projects, it would be possible to have a non-partisan initiative whereby a pick-up service could be provided. People in these schemes could be put to the task of bringing people home from pubs.
I acknowledge the work of the GAA and of the Irish Countrywomen's Association. These are at the heart of rural communities, especially the GAA. Some clubs provide transport home at weekends and that must be acknowledged. I fully support every cent that goes from the sports capital scheme to the GAA clubs for development because it goes back manifold into the community.
The instances of urban decline and the attempts to address them, such as the Ballymun and Moyross projects, are known to all. There is also a social desolation and silent decline in rural Ireland but it is not heard because the people are a little quieter. They are under pressure. Rural crime features attacks by people from outside the area. City dwellers stalk the area and pass on the information they obtain. This is going on and a high-profile response is needed. The answer lies in getting together with the local clubs, post offices, etc.
We must invest in infrastructure. The Minister is doing valuable work but he cannot do everything. There are related Ministries, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Transport, all of which must come on board. There must be a unified response and a balancing of economic progress with the social needs of rural Ireland.
I welcome the Minister to the House to debate this very important topic. I was among the first of many Senators who looked for this debate and have been looking for it for quite some time. I am impressed by the passion of Senator McDonald for the rural area, something I could hear in her speech. I have a similar passion.
We must acknowledge the value and contribution people in rural areas and communities have made to date. These have sustained them to the modern era and against the many pressures that have tried to batter down rural life. Such people depended greatly on the many institutions in rural areas with which we are familiar, such as the school, the church, the post office and the Garda station. The farming co-operatives also played a major role in rural Ireland, as did the various community groups that have been mentioned, such as the GAA, the ICA, the IFA and Macra na Feirme. Muintir na Tíre, a very valued group that is not heard of so much now, did enormous work in rural areas throughout the country. There were also the business people, the small shopkeepers, the publicans and those who contributed in a considerable way to developing community facilities many years ago. With very little help some of these have managed to sustain rural communities to date.
I am saddened to see — and Senator McDonald was right about this — that rural areas are suffering in a very quiet way. A silent population exists that does not protest too much. There is isolation in rural areas. I have finished a series of meetings around my constituency in Waterford during which I met many rural people who complained quietly, without getting up on a soapbox, about the lack of community resources and gardaí in their areas. The local pub might have closed or the local shop. There is a real fear that rural Ireland is becoming disconnected.
I believe the Minister also has a real passion about rural Ireland but he has a lot to do to convince some of his colleagues. I am a bit bemused to hear the Green Senator talk about rural proofing. That is a new buzzword to me. The rural proofing needed is support for rural areas and the people who live in them. That to me is rural proofing and the buzzwords can be forgotten.
At one time in rural areas the local garda was well-known to almost everyone in the community. I now know rural areas that are being policed from almost 30 miles away. Gardaí come and go at times that may be opportune. I say this in a public forum. They come when there is a bit of a gathering, perhaps an event in the local pub. They come for a bit of publicity, perhaps, and to be seen around the area. Where are they when they are really needed, when robberies are taking place in these rural areas? The local garda is not there and is not known. That is a fact of life and I am sure the Minister will agree with me. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has a role in this.
I do not agree with what Senator Quinn said. Regarding Garda service in rural areas he stated that it is a question of efficiency and that we will manage to get on with it. The Garda Síochána plays an important role in the protection of our society and in the delivery of a service to our citizens, no matter where they live. I do not agree with Senator Quinn's views regarding efficiency in Garda services. I am sure the same principle could be applied to post offices. There is a social need to have these services in rural areas and if we do not have them, rural Ireland will die. There is no doubt about that.
On the broad issue of isolation, connectivity is very important. I acknowledge the role of the rural transport initiatives that have been carried out in various counties and constituencies which have supported a degree of connectivity. Senator de Búrca mentioned broadband and I became irate because I know, as do other Senators, that the broadband scheme and grant aid have been cut by the present Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I know he has funded the very good greener home scheme but he has taken the money from the broadband scheme. That is a fact. There are vast areas of this country that do not have any broadband coverage, good, bad or indifferent. Without wireless, Eircom or any other type of broadband, they suffer and are at a major disadvantage. As supporters of rural areas, it does not reflect well on us if we do not highlight this fact. That is why I am so vociferous on the matter.
I agree with Senator McDonald on support for basic infrastructure such as water and sewerage for villages and towns. I urge one caution on the Senator. We have a scheme in County Waterford where seven villages are grouped together but it has been a bureaucratic nightmare to get it through the various Departments. We have been waiting three or four years for an offshore licence for some villages. Some are ready to go but cannot until the others catch up. There is a difficulty there. That is certainly an efficiency which the Minister might introduce into the Departments to help these villages.
I agree with previous speakers about rural enterprises and diversification. Considerable experience is available over past generations regarding agriculture. There is diversification into agri-related businesses, whether food produce, horticulture, or equestrian. Other speakers mentioned tourism and heritage. I recently visited the award-winning Sliabh gCua family farm guesthouse in County Waterford that attracts tourists from all over the world. Those people are selling a product that perhaps not many of our own people are aware of but they have guests from Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia as regular visitors. They do a marvellous job in promoting our country and its rural areas. We must see more of this type of business. I acknowledge the role of Leader in supporting these small enterprises in rural areas.
I am glad to hear that the Minister will announce the Leader funding in the coming weeks. A fund of €425 million certainly is a large sum and I hope to see it spent well in different areas. When will the groups be expected to have tenders back for the funding? A year has already been lost. The programme was to have run from 2007 to 2013 and it is now mid-2008. Will there be a quick turnaround with regard to the Department approving tenders? Concerning projects that must start urgently, will there be any retrospection with respect of their qualification for Leader funds? We are half way through the year and programmes are literally waiting for Leader funds to get going. There are very worthwhile causes. Given that the programme was supposed to run from 2007 to 2013, will it be extended in any way because of its late start?
We can return to this debate. Those who represent rural areas are fewer in number in both Houses of the Oireachtas and our voices must be heard. The communities and the people we represent depend on us to be heard when we come to Dublin to speak in the Oireachtas. It is not merely the communities and public representatives that have a role to play in sustaining rural areas. There is a need for real political leadership. I believe the Minister has a passion for rural areas and that he wants to see sustainable things happening. He has a job of work to do to convince his colleagues in Cabinet. I hope, now that there is a Taoiseach from a rural background, that the Minister may have his ear and that he may be able to get the funds required and have the proper balanced regional development that has been promised in different programmes for Government. That is what rural Ireland needs. It is a vast area outside the Pale that needs the attention of politicians from all sides.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this important issue which is close to my heart. I wish the Minister, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, well on his re-appointment. He is a former Member of this House, having served here with me from 1989 to 1993. I acknowledge his tremendous work on behalf of rural communities. We hear much about the disadvantages of living in rural areas, and there are some, but there are many advantages which should be highlighted and promoted.
I thank the Minister for the rural transport initiative, which has been a huge success. The Bantry rural transport scheme was one of the pilot schemes and it now covers all of west Cork, serving places such as Bere, Sherkin and Cape Clear islands and the Sheep's Head, Mizen and Beara peninsulas. It has expanded to cover the Borlin valley and other remote areas. It is a huge success and people should acknowledge it. The night service, which is now being operated as a pilot scheme, might help to sustain life in rural villages by keeping rural pubs open and taking people to bingo halls, GAA meetings and so forth. It is wonderful and I take my hat off to the Minister for it.
Other successful initiatives in my constituency include the caring peninsulas project, a wonderful scheme whereby people check on others living in remote areas. This wonderful project should be funded on a multi-annual basis. There is also the provision of community crèches in rural areas. The west Cork community partnership, now amalgamated with Leader, supported initiatives to help small farmers and to offer people advice on fishing and so forth. Cork South-West has suffered as a result of the fisheries legislation. Fishing is under severe threat from rising fuel costs and declining fish stocks so it is important we examine other ways of helping people in rural communities.
We should not throw in the towel. I grew up in an area where the herring fishing declined for different reasons. There was hake fishing in Bantry Bay. Time moves on, however, and unfortunately we cannot make fish more plentiful. One initiative the Minister might examine closely for these rural areas, and it could equally apply to Connemara and parts of Donegal and Kerry, is fish farming. Mussel farming is very successful in parts of west Cork and people are considering farming oysters, clams and scallops. One of the biggest abalone farms in Europe, an initiative supported by the Minister's Department, has been opened on the Beara peninsula. I wish the operators well. There is an unlimited market for abalone in Japan and it is hoped the farm will create many jobs. Bantry Bay has the largest mussel factory in Europe which provides approximately 120 jobs. It is under some threat but I hope it will be sustained. There should be a more hands-on approach to salmon ranching. The Minister supported me in my endeavours to support the salmon farmers over recent years. There is also the option of wild salmon farming which has been carried out successfully in Canada and other places.
The one-off rural housing issue is close to my heart. It should be re-examined. The Department's CLÁR programme seeks to prevent the decline of rural areas by encouraging people to live in those areas and providing sustainable employment and local services, such as small sewerage and water schemes. I compliment the Minister on the programme. Many little villages and towns in my constituency have secured money through CLÁR to provide and extend water and sewerage services in remote areas. A huge sum of money has also been spent on boreens. There have been huge improvements in the past ten years as a result of the Department co-funding schemes with the local authorities. Long may such schemes last.
I am not sure what can be done about one-off rural housing. I spoke passionately on the issue on the RTE programme "Questions And Answers" some years ago. An Taisce should have no role in objecting to one-off rural housing. It should concentrate on its role in protecting special buildings. The organisation has a role to play in society but it should not get involved in one-off rural housing. I recall fighting for two or three planning permissions for local people in Rosnacaheragh. There are 13 children and two teachers in the local school. However, there are far more holiday homes in the area than homes for local people. Eventually, I persuaded the then manager of the council to come out to visit the area and the planning permissions were granted. The school is now beginning to revive with new life.
After the general election last year, in which I lost my Dáil seat, I visited the islands of Mull and Iona and the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The Isle of Skye was a typical case of rural decline where the population on the island declined. However, initiatives were put in place to encourage fish farming and environmentally friendly developments on the island. As a result, the population started to grow again.
The Minister referred to the issue of rural life and where people should live. A socioeconomic survey was carried out four or five years ago which compared the Beara peninsula in west Cork with Ballymun in Dublin. Lest anybody think everything in rural areas is rosy, there are disadvantages. The Beara peninsula is remote from many areas. However, the survey showed that 70% of children reared on the Beara peninsula received third level education while in Ballymun, and I do not condemn Ballymun for its problems, only 7% of children reached third level. I am the youngest of a family of 11. When I was growing up we had no electricity and lived 13 miles from the nearest town. We survived on a little fishing and farming. Things have changed but we were as happy as pigs in muck. There is another word for it but I will not use it. There are some great advantages to living in rural areas.
The Minister has done phenomenal work in the past 11 years in the Department. I welcome the €450 million that is due to be spent under the new Leader programme and other initiatives. Long may that continue. The Minister is to be complimented on his work. Rural areas would be at a greater loss if the Minister had not held office for the past decade.
I, too, congratulate the Minister on his re-appointment. Like other speakers, I do not doubt the Minister's sincere passion for rural Ireland, which I share. I consider myself an example of rural Ireland at its best. I come from a small farm on the side of a hill in rural Tipperary. I have taken note of the new Taoiseach's change of language since his election. He speaks about communities, rural areas and developing this, that and the other. I do not doubt his sincerity but will he provide the funds to allow his vision become reality? I will try to help the Minister to secure those funds because they are very necessary. However, I believe the Taoiseach is simply trying to move the debate away from an economy that is, unfortunately, on a downward trend.
I wish to bring a number of points to the Minister's attention. We could discuss this subject for hours but I will address just a few areas. I support the rural transport scheme, which is a great initiative. Unfortunately, however, it is not funded to the level that is required. Is the Minister certain that the commitments made in the national development plan will be met? I believe the commitments are totally under-funded. There should be an increase beyond what is promised in the NDP for this initiative. It has been shown in various studies that where it works well, there has been a reduction in depression and loneliness, etc., particularly among elderly people. There has been a decrease in the number of visits to general practitioners for reasons associated with mental illness and depression, etc. The Minister might want to examine a study that was conducted in Macroom. I understand that the former Deputy, Moosajee Bhamjee, has made some helpful statements on this matter.
The Departments of Transport and Health and Children were engaged in discussions about the use of the rural transport initiative to take people in isolated areas to medical appointments. I am talking about bringing people to doctors' surgeries rather than substituting for the ambulance service. I understand that the discussions ended when there was a budgetary dispute. Could they be renewed? If the HSE could get local transport managers to employ rural transport administrators to bring people to doctors' appointments, it would be a huge advance. I do not think petty squabbling about budgets should come into play. We should change the rules of the scheme so that all journeys no longer need to be point-to-point. It should be more flexible and cover one-off journeys. That would be a progressive move because many people want to do day trips, etc.
Other Senators have spoken about the closure of shops, pubs, restaurants, post offices and churches in rural areas. Perhaps the Minister's brief does not extend to doing something about the closure of churches. When the market fails, we should adopt the concept referred to by Senator Quinn earlier. I refer to what is known in economic philosophy as "externality", which happens when the social benefits of a transaction outweigh its economic benefits. We should consider offering an incentive to maintain the last post office, shop or — dare I say it — pub in a locality. Like other Senators, I think we need to see the data underpinning the proposed changes to the drink driving laws. If the data indicate that making a change is the right thing to do, that will be fair enough. Perhaps the Minister will examine whether incentives can be put in place to save the last local business in a particular category in each rural area. The Labour Party made proposals in this regard before the last general election.
As I have said in this House previously, I am an inside trader when it comes to tourism. I left a position with Fáilte Ireland when I was elected to this House. I was present for a number of announcements made by the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, over the years. The figures show that the tourism industry is in decline in the midlands and mid-west areas. We will not be able to do anything about that until the role of Dublin Tourism is addressed. Dublin Tourism, which does a fine job, is very good for Dublin. As Dublin is the main point of access into Ireland, however, it also needs to do a fine job to encourage people to visit the spine of Ireland. That is not being done. I do not believe Dublin Tourism should be outside the remit of Fáilte Ireland as it is at present. Perhaps the Minister will talk to his colleague about this serious issue. Tourism is essential for rural Ireland.
I support the initiatives taken by Mr. John Concannon in respect of the islands. The Minister has been involved in such matters. Mr. Concannon currently works on the promotion of our inland waterways, which is fantastic. The Minister has initiated part of the project. There is no such thing as a product called "rural tourism" — there is merely tourism in rural Ireland.
Absolutely.
Rural Ireland will not have the products needed to embrace tourism unless cohesion funding is linked to the work being done by Fáilte Ireland. Rural Ireland depends totally on domestic tourism. It is not getting a fair bang from the international buck.
Reference has been made to the Beara walk. There are issues in relation to the co-operation of the county councils. Perhaps the Minister will examine the matter. I do not believe it is succeeding as it could. I ask the Minister to support those of us who are opposing the changes proposed by the EU to the HACCP legislation. The changes will force people working in farmers' markets to have running hot and cold water on tap. If the change is agreed, it will have a detrimental impact on farmers' markets. The Minister might not be aware of this issue. Perhaps he will discuss it with his colleagues. I agree with those who have spoken about rural housing. To date, the Green Party's attitude to broadband services has been a disgrace. Some countries in eastern Europe have a better broadband service than Ireland. We need innovative ways of addressing these problems. Broadband is needed in rural Ireland. The agencies which are trying to attract small and indigenous high-value enterprises are unable to do so in the absence of broadband services.
Caithfidh mé a rá go raibh díospóireacht iontach againn ar maidin. Sílim gur b'fhiú go mór an méid seo de díospóireacht a bheith againn. The more we debate these issues, the more I think we should deal with many of them in much more detail at a later stage. I am prepared to use the Seanad for the purpose for which it was established. While it is a legislative body, of course, it also has a role in teasing out issues and finding solutions. In the limited time available to me, I will be unable to deal with the many issues which have been raised. I intend to address one or two specific issues and group the other matters under certain headings. I suggest that we should debate such matters in more detail, as part of an attempt to find solutions to certain problems, at a later stage.
I will deal with a number of issues relating to the rural development programme. The EU agreed the programme, for which my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are responsible, last August or September. It is a fallacy to think that any member state could have been ready to start implementing the programme from 1 January. That is not how it works. I accept that two and a half or three months were lost as a result of the issue that was raised by the Cavan-Monaghan Leader group, with which I will deal in a moment. Ireland will be one of the first countries, if not the first country, out of the blocks, as it was in the last programme. It is good that €425 million is still available. It will be spent over a timeframe that is one year shorter. We will have to spend more every year from now on. All the projects have to be approved between now and 2013 and payments will be made in 2014 and 2015. We are still making payments under the last programme, which ended in 2006.
The Cavan-Monaghan Leader group raised a question with the EU, as it was entitled to do. I explained to the Leader groups, which were incredibly supportive, that it would have been wrong of me not to deal with this in a patient manner. I am delighted that the permanent representative received a letter from the European Union in the last week. I would like to quote from the letter. It refers to the complaint made by Mr. Derek McCabe, who is the chairperson of Cavan-Monaghan Rural Development Co-operative Society Limited, about the cohesion process. The phrase "my services" in the letter refers to the legal directorate of agriculture and rural development. The letter states:
I wrote to the legal representative of Mr. McCabe, Mr. Philip Lee, on the 9th of April 2008, informing him that my services will propose to the commission to close the file on his complaint at one of the forthcoming meetings of the commission for the reasons set out.
The letter then goes into the details of those reasons, before continuing:
There is no information which has been brought to the attention of my services to indicate that the additional criteria present in the national programme or country are contrary to the principles of the Leader method, as set out in article 61 of regulation EC/1698/05, which should in general guide the implementation of the Leader access.
It is clear that the EU is perfectly happy with Ireland's implementation of the programme. I would like to make it clear, in response to another issue that was raised, that there is no retrospection. In other words, if one does the work before the grant is allocated, that is it. I think that is common to all grants of which people are aware.
I would like to run through a few more matters before I run out of time. Senators raised many issues, such as rural transport, gardaí and schools, which I like to group together as "social services". Many rural schools not only have class sizes that are as big as anywhere else in the country, but they also have multiple classes, yet still the results are way better. This goes back to my argument about the community culture involved.
In addition to post offices I would cite credit unions, although nobody mentioned their growth and the major contribution they have made to rural Ireland. I see such outlets as a group, not in an administrative or specialist sense, but as regards their role in rural areas.
Speakers have referred to pubs in the context of rural social life, but restaurants constitute a new and growing phenomenon. Do nightclubs suck all our young people into towns? Does the way in which we operate such matters have a detrimental effect? We should examine the issue of social life.
Many infrastructural issues were raised in the debate, including water and sewerage schemes for small towns and villages. I agree with the agglomerating effect in this regard. In addition, we have done quite a bit of work on electricity supplies. Ministers can transfer money where there is no expenditure involved under a certain heading. In other words, if I find for one reason or another beyond my control that there is an underspend in one heading, one can often obtain permission from the Department of Finance to transfer the money concerned.
We are at the final stages of a national broadband scheme, which will cover 99.5% of the remaining areas that do not have broadband facilities. Somebody has made a minor legal challenge but we hope it will be overcome quickly. The result of the tendering process was to be known next month but it may run into the following month. It should be known this summer, however, following which the roll-out will occur. That will bring broadband to every rural area.
There is a saying in Irish, Is fearr deireanach ná go brách, but I believe this rural broadband approach is the only sustainable way of doing it. The way to finish it is through one big bang. The intention was announced last April and it has taken a year to get the preferred final bidders. It is a slow process but it is at the endgame. All the decisions have been made so it can now be finalised.
The heading of social services includes the community services programme, FÁS, the rural social scheme, sport and volunteerism in rural Ireland, as well as services for children and the elderly. I see that as another module. Members have spoken about barriers which exist, but there are also incredible business opportunities. At a time of economic downturn, I can think of a large number of such matters. Senators referred to rural recreation and rural tourism generally. The potential is unlimited because of our climate, topography, countryside, waterways, hills and mountains. We have so many opportunities but we need enough time, effort and energy to get them all operating. We should examine all those aspects to see how we can exploit them.
We spoke about the number of young people attending third and fourth level education, which is an accrued intellectual resource.
The planning debate has been very confrontational. I do not want to destroy the visible beauty of rural Ireland and we can avoid doing so by engaging in a rational debate with those concerned. We should be able to have houses and communities without destroying rural areas. Some planning policies have been totally negative.
The other interesting point is the myth that, by definition, urban dwellers leave a smaller carbon footprint than those in rural areas. I do not believe that and I am willing to debate the point with the leading experts. I recently received a report of the fantastic work being done by the Western Development Commission, including on wood energy. The commission said, however, that wood energy will not work unless one lives near a forest or a timber mill, which are not in town centres. Therefore, if one wanted to cut one's energy usage through the use of timber, one would be much better off in the countryside than in the city. Solar panels have a major role to play and are often easier to install in rural areas where there is more space.
We should have a rational debate about positive and negative aspects of planning, in addition to discussing rural tourism and recreation. Those are just a few headings that we should return to on another occasion. If Senators wish to discuss such elements I am up for it. I will leave that proposal with the Seanad as an offer.
I have a big concern for deprived, disadvantaged rural areas, which come under the ambit of the RAPID programme. Any debate on the positive aspects of rural Ireland must be counterbalanced by the fact that young people in certain areas of our towns and cities are predetermined to grow up amid the greatest disadvantage. What are we going to do about that big challenge?
Despite rural depopulation, some 70% of pupils in a small three-teacher school in my own community went on to third level. That was long before there were remedial and resource teachers. On the other hand, however, there are areas where only 2%, 5% or 7% of pupils go on to third level education. That is a scandal and we face a big problem in this respect. I am more than willing to return to this House to discuss these matters in detail and determine what the physical or social barriers are and how we should tackle the issue. As well as physical renewal in urban areas, we also need social renewal. If we do not change people's social values, we can build all the new physical structures we want but they will not solve the problems which will confront us again in five or ten years.
Our time is up but I will allow a few brief questions.
I welcome the Minister's offer to debate the various issues in the House on another occasion. Rural development is such a broad area that one cannot deal with it in one debate. I thank the Minister for his offer.
We welcome the increase of €425 million in funding for rural development under the Leader programme. What is the timescale for tendering from the various Leader groups around the country? Will there be a quick turnaround process in that regard? As I said earlier, many people are urgently awaiting such funds and hoping they will qualify for them.
I agree with the Minister's views on rural planning policy. We should revisit this matter. I am concerned by some terms such as "rural proofing". What is "rural proofing"? It should not be allowed to enter the political lexicon. Is rural proofing aimed against farmers or others? Is it just protecting rural areas for weekend use, as another speaker said? I hope that theory is not advanced in any way.
The Opposition will welcome whatever initiatives are announced to improve broadband penetration in rural areas. We have already been through the community broadband scheme, which did not achieve its objectives despite the money and resources that were spent on it. Britain and Northern Ireland have done it by achieving nearly 99% penetration, so surely we can learn from them. I ask the Minister to examine the UK model to determine methods of delivering broadband to rural areas. Nowadays, broadband is nearly as essential as rural water and sewerage schemes.
I was struck by the Minister's comments on the social effects of nightclubs in attracting young people away from rural areas into towns. I advocate the theming of pubs, including restaurant add-ons, which should be facilitated. Such theming would avoid forcing people into towns for social activities. The Minister should examine that matter. He might also look at health and safety legislation concerning the preparation of food.
Yes.
I posed two questions earlier. Will the Minister use his good offices to examine the rural transport scheme with regard to facilitating health appointments? In some places people simply do not go to the doctor.
Will the Minister also re-examine the issue of point-to-point events, perhaps allowing a percentage of one-off activities, such as ten trips per year?
The turnaround, once we advertise this, will be five or six weeks. Let us be realistic. I expect grants will be approved in October. The Leader programme companies have not helped themselves here. Instead of starting from scratch in October, if there is a good idea for a project, preliminary work could be started by interested companies. The operating rules will become available in time. Such companies could proceed in advance of official sanction. The scheme will be open for anybody to apply, but most areas will only have a limited number of applications.
In was only in later years that the previous programme took off. In principle, there should be no gap between the programmes but it happens all over Europe and the problem is not unique to Ireland. We are still one of the fastest out of the traps. I will check the rate of our progress.
Rural proofing has been around for a considerable time. There are many types of proofing these days and I am not a fan of this method. A draft memorandum will contain a section at the end asking whether the document is rural-proofed, gender-proofed poverty-proofed and so on. The answer is already contained in the memorandum. I try to approach the job in a different way and as policies are introduced ensure the job is done in a way that is sustainable for rural Ireland. The theory is fine, but in practice it sometimes becomes just a paper exercise and I have no interest in that.
I accept that the broadband scheme was not a great success. Some two years ago the Government realised that because of barriers in the market, such as those caused by industry regulation and so on, a "big bang" approach was necessary. It took a decision to take this approach. Last April there was an advertisement in the newspapers requesting bidders to provide broadband in the parts of rural Ireland that were not covered. There was an extended mapping exercise to find the relevant areas. By the following autumn there were four preferred bidders. The hope was this process would yield one successful bidder by early this summer. That is the current position. It is like planning for motorways, only when the construction companies start work do people really believe it will happen, even though years of planning have been carried out. We are at the final stage of the tender process. I understand it will take between one year and 18 months to roll out fully. This roll-out will stimulate some of the companies to enter the market in some of the areas in which they have not operated to date. Some companies stood to make losses in certain circumstances because of the option to telephone using the internet.
Regarding theme pubs, night clubs, public houses and so on, there has been growth in the market for rural restaurants, as people eat out more. We should recognise that the decline of the rural pub is not only the result of drink driving legislation. It is also being caused by changes in society such as the prevalence of more comfortable houses, fewer bachelors living alone and many other factors. We must provide solutions that make businesses in rural Ireland sustainable and change the view that there is only the standard pub to be considered. It should also be recognised that people expect more comfort. It is possible to see examples around the country of a local pub closing down to be replaced by a huge hotel with excellent facilities, and the local people using the new hotel. These people want higher standards. It is like comparing the old facilities at Croke Park with the new stadium. The GAA realised that the old Croke Park would not attract the spectators of the future, so a new stadium was built with facilities that were laughed at by some people. However, spectators began to come in ever increasing numbers.
We have done much work on the hazard analysis and critical control point, HACCP, standards legislation. It is possible to see these standards either as a nuisance or as an inconvenience that will eventually bring significant benefits and my view is, ultimately, inclined towards the latter. We know that, for example, when Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CJD, appeared in Europe, our beef market collapsed. It was not because people died in significant numbers from the disease as a result of eating Irish beef, but because of the perception.
I recently presented awards to butchers in the west who attained a HACCP standard. With the support of the local authority and specialist advice we can help people reach the high standards necessary. These standards can in turn be used as a marketing tool indicating that we have the safest food of all. The issue of hot and cold taps was raised and my answer is that we should give money to provide them. Through the CLÁR programme I have given money for farmers' markets that do not have adequate facilities. The mart of the old days — a rough place — is changing. I believe there is an excellent market in County Kilkenny that is thoroughly modern and supported by FBD, other insurance companies and so on. Farmers' organisations have offices on site there and there are cafeterias to match what one would find in any hotel. This is a far cry from the wellie cafeterias of older markets. That is the way the world is changing and I keep saying to those people——
Some farmers are still comfortable in Wellington boots.
Change is taking place and in my 30 years in rural Ireland I often find a discrepancy between claims about what rural people want and their actual requests. Rural people keep moving ahead of our wishes for the past. The best way to create a sustainable rural environment is to keep some of the good from the old world, but facilities for people are improving. Given a choice between the old hotel in the town and the posh new hotel, most people will choose the new hotel and it is great that we have the resources for this progress.
To address Senator Alan Kelly's point, I have done much work to try to use the rural transport scheme to provide a facility for hospital visits. This approach makes sense, and it is not only related to the HSE. In everything I do I encounter difficulties when I bring groups of people together to do something that makes good sense and should not require much convincing to get an agreement. However, people have an infinite ability to get lost in the small print. I believe in cutting a deal and getting on with the matter at hand. Once could argue forever and a day — voluntary groups can be as bad as statutory agencies in this regard — over small issues rather than seeing the big picture. Ireland must move on from this approach to life.
I met a very fine person recently with whom I worked on rural development years ago in Connemara. He recalled how in the early days we took a risk in starting projects, only some of which worked but at least we took the risk. His view is that nowadays, so much study is required, every possible obstruction is raised and there must be a dotting of the i's and a crossing of the t's to the point of frustration. We need to return to a more "can do" approach.
As politicians, we should focus on getting the job done. We should admit failure when it happens, but failure is not a reason to do nothing. I remember providing playgrounds in the RAPID areas, one or two of which were vandalised. Certain people in the media tried to create a story about this. My sharp answer was that the vandalism was a pity, but I did not regret the installation of the 43 playgrounds that were not vandalised. The two that were would be replaced and CCTV installed. I refused to quit just because two of the initiatives failed.
Sitting suspended at 2 p.m. and resumed at 3 p.m.