Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment by our leader, Senator O'Brien. I ask for an urgent debate on the Government's approach to rural and regional Ireland. There is a front page headline indicating that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, has decided he is disposed to closing rail lines throughout the country. There is no doubt my own Sligo to Dublin line, which a previous Government tried to close, will be under attack once again.

At what stage will the Government's relentless attack on rural Ireland stop? We have seen small and rural schools closed, Garda stations have been closed, health services have been centralised and we have seen the first ever reduction in CAP payments. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, and his colleagues must realise there is a culture in this country apart from that of Dublin. People live outside of Dublin. They live in small towns, in villages and on islands. It is the Government's responsibility to support those communities, whether profitable or not to do so.

What will happen next? Will they turn off the electricity at Mullingar or tell Irish Water not to provide water because it is not profitable to do so in the eyes of Deputy Varadkar, who lives in his ivory tower in Castleknock, Dublin 15? People and citizens are entitled to the support of the Government, including support for public transportation and utilities, however profitable.