Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In talking to the 17 offices which I acknowledge are making progress I ask the NTA not to focus completely on the larger towns. There may be five or six small communities or small towns in a rural area and everyone is whipped out of them on a Friday and brought to the larger town where there is a Lidl and a Tesco store. However, it is the small trader in the small town to whom the NTA should help local people to get. I ask it to keep a focus on the "shop local" idea to revive smaller towns.