Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That feeds into the national planning framework. It will speak to rural issues. There is going to be an opportunity for us all to have a debate on rural Ireland in the context of the national planning framework. It is important that we make submissions to that. I do take the Deputy's point. I was a member of Monaghan County Council and I absolutely defended the right of people to live in rural Ireland. I live in rural Ireland myself and I was allowed to build my house there. I do not want to see people from the country who want to live in the country being prohibited from doing so. However, for others, it is more attractive to live in towns or to live in villages at different stages of their lives. That is why I am developing the pilot scheme of how we look at people who wish to move back into the centre of towns and how we can incentivise them to do that. The framework consultations will specifically ask us to consider whether as a society we want to continue to see a drift into the cities. Personally, I believe there is a huge attraction to rural Ireland.

We did not get to discuss it but on the issue of broadband, when we get connectivity into every house in this country it will be a gamechanger for rural Ireland. I have no doubt about that. We are living in what I consider to be an IT revolution. The whole world of work is going to change. Where there will be good connectivity, people will more than likely be able to enjoy living in rural Ireland. They will be able to work close to home as well or maybe work in clusters in small villages that have this connectivity. One could hook into it anywhere in the world. We are working closely with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to ensure that the national planning framework includes proper recognition of rural Ireland, including areas outside of towns. We cannot continue to carpet from the east coast and Dublin outwards as that continue to sprawl. There are many more opportunities to live in other areas. We do not all have to be here. We are living in a different era and we need to prepare for that. I believe there is an absolute opportunity for rural Ireland to get its speak in there. I will be making my views known in the national planning framework.