Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct. That is what we are trying to address. He is right when he speaks about depopulation. That is why we have the national plan and the capital plan. That is why the rural regeneration scheme is in place. This is about targeting communities. It does not have to be the councils. We hope community groups, State agencies, chambers of commerce and people will come together if they feel they have a scheme that is worthy of being funded under this plan. That is what we are looking for now. As I have said, the rural regeneration scheme will be up and running in July. We hope to make the allocations sometime before the end of the year. There will be a drawdown from that scheme early next year. I am confident that what we are proposing will try to address some of the depopulation we have all over the country. As we said earlier, that is what the Leader programme is about. We need to get the €250 million that is available under that programme down rural areas to create jobs and do exactly what Deputy Kenny is talking about. We have the food hubs and the digital hubs. The creation of employment is what this is about.