Chairman:

Before we conclude, I want to comment on the plan. It is a very valuable plan and it is a first attempt at trying to draw together such a broad area. There are so many different actions and it is cross-departmental. While we need to interface with various Departments and set out challenges, it is important that actions are delivered on and that we can see their progress.

On the town and village renewal scheme, which was in the limelight when the scheme was launched, we can see the real impact of it. In County Clare, my village received €90,000 last year and another €100,000 this year. This has had a real impact on the village and I can see the difference it made. Deputy Michael Collins said earlier that if we give a rural community a chance and some moneys, it will explode. Consider Newmarket-on-Fergus down the road. Deputy Seán Canney will be familiar with the area as he visited there when he was a Minister of State. The local development group, Obair, put together a proposal for creating a hub in the middle of the village. It purchased the premises itself and the €200,000 that was allocated this year will enable it to set up a meals-on-wheels service in the building and to train up chefs. This is a massive initiative for Newmarket-on-Fergus. It is positive and it will create jobs in a rural area and have a direct, positive impact on the outlying areas. We can all be down on rural Ireland, saying that it is dead and so on, but here is the real impact of the plan for rural development being delivered on the ground.

I welcome the extra provision under the local improvement scheme. This scheme was dead and gone, so its re-establishment and the funding for it is very welcome. The town and village renewal scheme had been discontinued for many years also, as was the sports capital scheme. As the economy has improved and we are in a better financial position, the Government has managed to fund these schemes.

There are, however, challenges, and we have heard about them today. One of the major tonics that rural Ireland needs is high-speed broadband. We have heard the issues involved in this. A plan is in place and the Minister is doing his best, but I would like to see broadband rolled out faster. If high-speed broadband was available in rural areas of Clare, the county could compete with Dublin.

The other elephant in the room is the national planning framework. The gulf between Dublin and the rest of the State is glaring. Successive governments' plans and strategic plans have failed. The national planning framework document gives us all an opportunity to try to address this imbalance. I agree that we need to create a counterbalance between the west and the east of the country. Consider the Atlantic corridor road project and the provision of rail services and connections. If there is a rail service, it needs to be connected to a university or to an airport, such as Shannon Airport. To make the service user friendly, those connections need to be made right along the way. If this committee is to do anything, we need to make an impact on that particular document to counter balance the provision of services in the Dublin area and the west. The national planning framework is for another day. Hopefully we will discuss that topic at our next meeting.

I thank the witnesses for their time, their answers and their engagement. I look forward to engaging with them in the future. Deputy Niamh Smyth would like to speak.