Mr. Niall Cussen:

Maybe Mr. Hogan might deal with some of the specific vulnerabilities which we would see for parts of the Border area, bearing in mind some of the issues which the Deputy raised, including Brexit. I am very familiar with west Cavan. The Border zone is an area I know well.

The Deputy is correct in saying it has always had an extremely vibrant enterprise culture working with local resources. In looking at the analysis it is striking that, considering all of the challenges we face such as rolling out broadband, holding on to public services in rural communities and all the issues the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, addressed in the Government's Action Plan on Rural Development, we would redouble our efforts in what we are doing in practical terms to make smaller settlements in rural areas a viable proposition for exactly the type of households the Deputy mentioned. For example, many local authorities will have their statutory local area plans and their planning functions but one question we have to ask is whether local authorities are appropriately equipped, from a resources and maybe a legal powers perspective - my colleague, Mr. Terry Sheridan, may come in on this on the vacant properties and derelict sites area - to implement those plans in practical terms to subsidise or make available land which young couples or local people can see as a viable alternative to provide a dream home for themselves to their own design and specification. Such a home would be across the road from the school, nearby the post office and all the local services in order that these places have a fighting chance to become nuclei in their own local communities and therefore create the conditions within which, as the Chairman mentioned, it then would be a sensible proposition in which to invest from the point of improving those services. One creates a virtuous cycle of people coming in and engendering a demand for services that can be addressed. Too often, if we are really honest about it, when we move beyond the suburban zones along the aforementioned motorway corridors to really get out into rural Ireland, we often see the twin cycles of villages, such as Dowra and so on, that are not reaching their potential but where there is a significant amount of building in a wider rural community. One asks oneself the question: if we could find a way to give the smaller settlements a fighting change to create a credible alternative, would it be different in terms of rolling out broadband, holding on to schools and services and justifying things because we now have a population to service? On the Brexit or Border issue, is there anything Mr. Hogan wants to add?