Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe. Caithfidh mé a rá ar dtús go bhfuil ard-mheas agam ar an obair atá déanta thar na blianta ag an trí eagraíocht atá os ár gcomhair. I have great respect for the work of all three organisations before us. If our Government policy could be dictated by what the organisations have had to say today, we would be far better off in rural areas.

I was fascinated by what Dr. Meredith said about the migratory effort towards urban centres. The point is backed up by the research done by Trutz Haase on the deprivation index. We have seen the maps of the deprivation indices when it was used for the local and community development programmes. The red areas were all closer to the Atlantic. They were the areas most deprived and where there were greater dependency ratios based on one income in a household. The volume of dwellings with three or four people living in a household depending on one income was high, as was dependency involving younger people looking after older people, infirm people or children with disabilities and so on. It is interesting that the research carried out is backing up that view.

There is more of a hoover effect from the urban centres drawing people towards those urban centres. That is due to the feminisation of the workplace. This is something we need to examine. It is a question of how to turn that on its head. How do we put the hose at the other end of the hoover and blow people out again?

Over the years I have been critical of certain aspects of the work of Údarás na Gaeltachta. However, we have often had the conversation from FORUM Connemara that if Údarás na Gaeltachta was based in north Connemara, the people there would be in a better place because of the fact that the organisation focuses specifically on Gaeltacht areas and it had a policy of pre-build manufacturing units. It has been able to fund co-operatives and child care centres, etc. Is it now time to start making the argument that we need a rural authority such as Údarás na Gaeltachta working in the rural areas and giving the same type of support that is provided in the Gaeltacht areas? Would that make a major difference in bringing people back to live in those areas?

Another point strikes me with regard to the bottom-up approach. Senator O'Donnell referred to the success of FORUM Connemara. I believe the company has succeeded despite Government policy. It has come from the battling of those involved over the years. That is the reason they have stayed where they are and stayed as strong as they are.

Government policy has thrown community development out the window. It goes back several steps; it is not only a question of this Government or the previous one. This has been a process. Let us consider the demise of community development projects. We had the cohesion scenario and then we had alignment. We saw the cutbacks in family resource centres. All these elements of community development have been thrown out the window for a programme delivery model.

Basically, we have programmes such as the Leader programme and the social inclusion and community activation programme. The idea is to deliver the programme. There is nothing about the engagement referred to by the FORUM representatives with regard to getting into the community, getting to know the community, working with the community and coming up with ideas from the community. Should we not be moving back towards a community development model rather than a programme delivery model in rural areas? It could be based around co-operatives being set up in community areas. People in north Connemara are lucky to have FORUM Connemara. In south Connemara there are co-operatives in several areas. However, many rural areas do not have these types of community organisations. Could such a rural authority support the development of community co-operatives? They could act as the hub on which to hang the programmes and carry out the other work that we have been discussing.

Reference was made to leadership capacity. Is it not more a resource issue rather than a leadership capacity issue? Is it a question of people with skills or funding to support people with skills who are in a given areas to enable them do what is needed? I imagine FORUM Connemara and groups in other rural areas reckon they have the people with the leadership capacity but they do not have the time. Often, the same people who are running the GAA club are on the board of management of the school and are also running the preschool, etc. There is an issue around the number of people available but there is also a resource issue and we are not paying people in those communities to do the work that should be done.

I compliment the work of Teagasc. Some of the research the organisation has done, especially in the social sphere in rural areas, has been particularly good. The Teagasc representatives have suggested that there is a need for more resources. If Teagasc had three research projects that the committee could fund tomorrow, where would the organisation put the focus? What would it select as the three projects?

It is ironic that we have empty schools in rural areas and yet we have an issue in urban areas of schools being oversubscribed and children being unable to get in. The employment issue is the most prominent. It is vital to get people back into rural areas. Providing housing in rural areas is another major issue. Do the deputations have any thoughts about how to try to make it more accessible for people to build in rural areas or to how to go back to live in rural areas from a housing perspective? The idea is to get people back out and get children into the schools, which are empty, half empty or closed down. I compliment and thank the deputations. I particularly liked the thoughts on a rural authority and so on.

There are some great examples of education from GMIT. We also have Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge in An Cheathrú Rua operating as satellite hub. We also have the Mace Head weather observatory in Carna. It is a world class top-of-the-range weather observatory internationally. However, there is a fear of it being closed down. Should we be expanding these third level hubs and putting them in rural areas as well?