Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending today. It is clear from the presentations that much thought and effort went into them and I appreciate the witnesses taking the time to do that.

I will refer to Cavan County Council, but the other local authority representatives can contribute on the topics if they wish. I have just returned from my party's think-in, to which we invited representatives from IDA Ireland to discuss regional and rural development.

We know that in Cavan and Monaghan we have been very much overlooked in terms of IDA Ireland visits to the Cavan-Monaghan area. The chairman of IDA Ireland, Frank Ryan, was there and he talked about education and facilities to attract businesses etc. The recent referendum outcome of Brexit and its the implications, particularly on areas like west Cavan, also took up a lot of our talking and thinking time. This morning we have read about the mushroom industry and the agrifood sector which we see plummeting already as a result of the Brexit decision. With regard to regional rural development and special designated areas, and I refer specifically to west Cavan in terms of de-population which might not be attractive for investment, what can we do at a national level to change that situation? Is the special area designation having the impact, as we have heard, on Galway with regard to that kind of development, when one talks about the unattractiveness of population decrease with regard to development?