John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and what he is seeking to do in trying to revive rural areas.

I feel as if I am living two separate lives. I come to Dublin for three or four days a week and the place is hopping. When I go home, the complete opposite in the case. It is all doom and gloom. There is absolutely nothing happening in smaller towns. Obviously many people have emigrated, although thankfully many have migrated to bigger cities, particularly from my own town, for work. The problem is that the town centre is dying in places like Ballaghaderreen, Castlerea, Strokestown, Swinford, Charlestown and other towns around Mayo and Roscommon. The heart has gone from the town centres. All we see is derelict houses and shops and more and more pubs and small grocers closing down. They cannot compete with the multinationals. One of the major problems was that local authorities gave planning permission to the likes of Tesco and Dunnes on the outskirts of the town. Shoppers come from rural areas, fill their cars and go straight home again, contributing nothing to the heart of the town. We took our eye off the ball on that.

The rates that small shops are being charged in these towns are another factor. In a local shop a friend of mine had to reduce the floor space of the shop by two thirds. He squeezed the entire stock of the shop into one third of the original space to reduce his rates bill. He employs one girl two days a week and he is struggling. The Minister might consider some kind of an incentive for the development of town centres to give back the towns to the people and to rejuvenate the heart of these towns. He should do that because no matter what it costs, it will create jobs as well. There might be an initial outlay but that will be paid back when people come off the dole.