Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I note the Rural Independent Group left the Chamber together a few moments ago. I note the absence of their colleague and my county colleague, Deputy Richard O'Donoghue because he has fallen ill. I send my best wishes to Deputy O'Donoghue and his family.

The Rural Independent Group spoke about the Green Party being anti-rural Ireland. I have to say that is absolutely, totally and categorically untrue. Our party has a passion for rural Ireland, for sustaining life in rural Ireland and for sustaining our young people in employment and activity in rural Ireland. Those who purport to represent rural Ireland much too often do not act in its best long-term interests. Far too frequently, the lens through which some perceive rural Ireland is defined by short-term thinking. Much of the debate we heard today is based on short-term thinking. The type of approach that is rooted in the notion of maintaining the status quooverlooks the risks associated with such a short-sighted approach. What some claim to be in the interests of rural Ireland are short-term solutions based on the keep-doing-what-we-are-doing mentality that continues to ignore the challenges of climate and environmental collapse and the risks they pose to the future of rural Ireland. We must acknowledge, collectively, in these Houses that the complexities of our rural communities and the challenges they face, require forward-thinking and long-term solutions. If this debate is anything to go by, we are clearly at cross purposes in this Chamber.

Our party believes with some justification that to sustain life, growth and prospects in rural Ireland, we need to look at planning through the long-term lens. The perceived quick fixes like one-off housing or building new homes on the periphery of our towns and villages without easy access to the local school, the post office or the pub only cause long-term challenges. Dispersed settlement leads to families living farther and farther away from town centres and one by one the services start to decline and close.

The local shop closes first, next is the pub, followed by the post office. Before you know it, there are not enough children to keep the primary school open. This is a trend that we need to reverse with progressive, long-term and sustainable rural policies.

The funding that is being provided under the town and village renewal scheme places a strong emphasis on projects that tackle vacancy and dereliction by bringing landmark town-centre buildings back to life. I commend the Minister on the leadership she has shown in this area in recent years and the Green Party is supportive of her efforts; well done to her. The way to enable our rural areas to grow and prosper is by making it possible that the vast majority of development happens within the existing footprint of these rural areas. Our towns can be the engines of our rural economy, and the centres of a rural society that is strong, integrated and resilient.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed an incredible display of short-termism in this House, and especially in Europe, in the debates on the EU nature restoration law. We have seen politicians railing against restoring nature with dangerously misleading rhetoric. Our ecosystems are degrading and just this morning the Environmental Protection Agency issued the water quality report with alarming results. The long-term solutions are hard but necessary. I implore colleagues in this House to take the long-term view, including colleagues in government and in opposition. In that way, we will secure the future of rural Ireland.

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