Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses.

They have a great deal of experience of working in their local communities, they have diverse occupations and are representative of rural Ireland.

Ireland is a small country with a very good quality of life which is envied by many countries. A view expressed by visitors when they come here is that we have an unpolluted countryside and a lovely environment. Our only difficulty is a lack of structures.

As has been mentioned, we need to provide more care for the elderly. We have some isolated and remote areas. It is thanks to the people who develop them, and the moneys provided by the Government, that rural transport has greatly benefited a rural lifestyle and gives people an opportunity to maintain that lifestyle. We hope that the Government will maintain the existing structures and provide funding to develop them further.

Unfortunately, this is a time of economic difficulties and moneys for roads is getting scarce. I hope that this is only temporary because people living in rural Ireland rely on a good road network and water supply. I also hope that the establishment of the Irish Water service will continue to provide a high quality water supply in all parts of Ireland. Emphasis should be placed on the rural group water schemes which were established and maintained by people on a voluntary basis. They are highly prized by rural communities. Subsidies will be required in order to maintain the group water schemes before they are taken over by the councils. There are many snags in the way because there are various types of wayleave, rights of way issues and technical legal matters that must be resolved. I hope that the new structure will ensure that funding will be maintained until such time as the Irish Water board is up and running. I hope that there will be adequate free water allowances provided and so on.

Broadband was mentioned. We are light years behind the rest of the Continent. We have a Third World broadband service. We are gradually building the speed of broadband but we need to accelerate the process because it would give everyone throughout the country equal opportunities. Broadband speeds have fallen behind in the lower populated areas but I hope that we will catch up over the next couple of years. Faster broadband would enable people to live in their areas and to develop their family farms more. Farming is a business nowadays and one must view it as such. Broadband is an important infrastructure when it comes to maintaining a farming business.

Credit was also mentioned. A microenterprise scheme has been established and it has been heartening to see commercial people avail of it. I hope that the scheme will be extended to small farmers and rural enterprises in order to help them to launch their businesses. Naturally, the scheme holds great potential for the agrifood industry.

Community groups operate on a voluntary basis and enhance towns and villages. They are a great asset to rural Ireland and I hope that the Government will give them greater recognition and the necessary supports.

The agri-environment schemes are another matter. I hope that they will not be watered down and that their funding is maintained. Farmers are the custodians of the countryside and the schemes have proved beneficial.

Earlier, Mr. James Doyle referred to acidic soil, particularly in parts of south Kerry, which prohibits forestry development. Perhaps we might ask the MEPs or people in the European institutions to examine the matter. The problem has prevented a lot of forestry work.

I wish to comment on flooding. The Flesk river flows into the lakes of Killarney. The area suffered widespread flooding a number of years ago but the problem was mitigated to an extent by rural schemes such as FÁS schemes. Participants on temporary work schemes cleared fallen trees and scrub from rivers which greatly eased the problem. Perhaps we could examine providing those schemes to operate on some of the rivers in that respect.