Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ayrshire and Preston were within the EU up until relatively recently. Preston in particular deployed methods for community wealth building and retaining money in communities that can create its own dynamic within them and strengthen local economies. If one looks at what is happening across Ireland, money is leaking out of many rural areas. I know we cannot have a utopia where everything stays within a particular local area but it is widely recognised that, in this State, there is a significant flight of money out of areas, no matter how much is put in. That is what I am trying to address. Other countries seem to be able to deal with these rules. As Ms Brassil and I know, contracts can be broken. There are two large prisons, a hospital and many State agencies in the town I live in, but with the amount of money going in, there are issues with what happens, with contracts and how that pans out. The people of Portlaoise are lucky because there is a fairly strong local economy because of all that, but there are issues with that in some more rural areas. Within the EU rules, there is much room for manoeuvre, considering what has been done in other countries.