Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of our guests for coming here to make presentations. Their statements were very informative. A few issues arise. With regard to Microfinance Ireland, it is very good to hear that so many jobs are being created and that employment is being provided in rural areas. My concern, which probably relates to every topic we are considering, is that money is being lent to people who cannot get money. Microfinance Ireland is a lender of last resort. The approval figure of 45% seems a bit low. I realise the organisation has to be prudent and protect the money but where there is any glimmer of hope, it should be given to people who want to start up.

Sometimes we fail before we succeed. We are probably better people if we do fail, provided we pick ourselves up and go again. If somebody has an idea, we should not be afraid to support it because even if it does fail, it is worth trying.

Perhaps Pobal is not selling its service to the public well enough. It should be done in a more open way to advertise the availability of the fund. The biggest issue for people who have an idea is that they do not know where to go. I want to address this issue with everybody present. If I was the chairman of a community council, as I was in Galway for a long time, and either I or the community group had an idea, I or it would be confused about where to go, as many people would say they could do this, that and the other. A person who goes to the local development company or Pobal is sent somewhere else. This might be an issue at which Pobal could look. People who volunteer within their communities and want to do something within them usually run out of steam very fast if their ideas do not gain traction and there is confusion about how things are done. There does not seem to be a definitive line on how someone can be sent to the right place such as a one-stop-shop to get the information he or she needs. There seem to be too many organisations that are trying to do the same thing or at least using the same language about what they provide. For me as a public representative, this is confusing and it creates frustration for representatives in communities who just throw their hands up in the air and forget about it. It is a pity there is not a streamlined approach.

The other thing that really kills communities is the bureaucratic nature of everything that must be done in form filling. Everybody has mentioned broadband, but people living in rural communities are expected to do everything online. We know that is not possible, but we still insist that people will receive a better service if they do it online. Until broadband is provided, this is unfair on communities that do not have access to it.

On the Leader programme, not a lot of money has been spent, particularly in County Galway, for reasons to do with tendering. There were disputes and court cases. The people who have suffered - the process has been badly managed - are those in communities that are only beginning to draw down funding. This should not be allowed to happen under any other programme. Disputes can take place, but the delivery of funding cannot be held up. There is a need for a better structure to deal with issues that arise in order that we can get on with the business of funding communities. The provision of funding in County Galway under the Leader programme has been held up for about 18 months because of a dispute which should have been dealt with differently. Even if court cases are ongoing, communities still need to be serviced.

The representatives from ICOS highlighted a number of issues in rural Ireland. I am from north Galway which has a number of co-operative livestock marts that also provide other services and that are at the heart of the farming and rural community. They are all located in towns that gain great benefit from the business being done. Some of them may have ambitions to develop, grow or modernise, but they find it hard to obtain funding. Are sources of funding available for co-operative livestock marts that have the vision to try to create facilities for a modern society and are willing to do so but find it hard to gain access to funds? One mart with which I have dealt is finding it difficult and coming up against a stone wall. Are loans and/or grants available to help such marts? The real benefit of a mart in any town stems from the fact that it serves the community by bringing people into the town from surrounding rural areas. What used to happen on what used be the old fair day can now take place on one or two days a week. It happens in Tuam on a Monday or a Tuesday and on a Saturday in Headford. People know that if the mart is open, the town will be busy. Is there any way the delegates can support them?

The Atlantic economic corridor is mentioned in the programme for Government. How do the delegates view it in rejuvenating and reinventing rural Ireland in order that we create a counter-balance to the east coast which is overdeveloped?

I thank the delegates for their concise and interesting presentations.