Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Technical Group for allowing me some of its speaking time on this important matter. What happened in the Chamber last week was a disgrace. Much time was taken up by the Government clapping itself on the back for what it called a job well done. I will highlight a couple of the Government's measures that it did not need to take but which have had detrimental effects on rural Ireland in particular and no economic benefit.

Unfortunately, the coming weeks and months will be the closing period for our town councils. They have served our communities excellently for many decades. People from all political parties and none made valuable contributions thereon. It was galling for me to go on a local radio show alongside a Government-supporting Deputy who was complimenting town councillors but voting in the Dáil to abolish them. Either one believes they are good and fulfilling an important role or one does not. I have also endured Government backbenchers attending constituency meetings and agreeing that, for example, the closure of Garda stations is awful and should not happen despite voting in the Dáil for their closure before returning to Kerry alongside Ministers to try to make out to their communities that giving back the stations that they took away in the first instance is actually a good thing because it costs more to keep them closed than it does to keep them open. I proved beyond all doubt in the Chamber that it costs more to keep a rural station closed. The Minister misled the House when he initially claimed that he was closing stations to save money. Now, Government Deputies claim that they are trying to give the stations back to communities or to get rid of them.

In a recent reply, the Minister told me that 40 former Garda stations had been identified for disposal on the open market and auctioneers had been appointed to manage their sale, with eight to be auctioned to the public at the end of March 2014 and the remainder to be offered for sale to the public in the coming months. What would the politicians who used to be in the Dáil during previous difficult times say about the Government selling off these assets and closing town councils?

Local development companies have done excellent work and administered funds in a prudent fashion. They have started up many small businesses throughout the country and much of the work they undertake is priceless. They have set people up in businesses that are continuing to grow and create jobs, not just for the people themselves but for their friends and neighbours. The Government in its wisdom believes that breaking up this structure and placing the local development companies under the umbrella of the local authorities is the right action to take, just as it believes that breaking up the town councils is the right action. We will not only lose our town councillors but our town engineers, town clerks, planning departments and environmental sections as well. The entire lot will be thrown into the county authority. This will do no good for the delivery of services to people living in estates, the elderly or business people. The town councils work in conjunction with chambers of commerce, Tidy Towns groups and other social groups but that entire structure is being done away with because the Minister, Deputy Hogan, believes it is a good idea. Time will prove how wrong it is.

The late journalist, Mr. John Healy, wrote "No one shouted stop". Given some of the Government decisions being taken, someone should be shouting "Stop". Time will prove that some of those decisions are poor. This morning, people from An Post attended an Oireachtas committee. Two weeks ago, the Technical Group introduced a Private Members' motion on behalf of the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU. Thousands of people from west Cork, Donegal, south Kerry, north Kerry, west Kerry, east Kerry, Galway and all over the country protested outside the Dáil because they wanted to keep rural post offices open. Ironically, in December 2006, Fine Gael tabled a motion similar to the Technical Group's recent one seeking the then Government to place an emphasis on retaining the network. In government, however, Fine Gael would not support the Technical Group and IPU motion, which was intended to give people confidence in their post offices and to enhance the services provided by the network.

We have lost many rural pubs and shops. Everything is seemingly being centralised, but is that any wonder? The Government is heavy with Ministers from Dublin who believe that the world stops at the Red Cow roundabout. They should be given Sat Navs to show that there is more to the country than Dublin. People who are supposedly charged with creating employment are only sending jobs to Dublin, Cork and Limerick. I wonder why.

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