Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives of Irish Rural Link and the Irish League of Credit Unions for their interesting presentations. I was particularly interested in what Mr. Boland had to say. He spoke about the lack of transport in rural areas. He spoke about broadband, carbon tax and meals on wheels.

As I see it rural Ireland is dying on its feet. The recent proposals by the Minister, Deputy Ross, and passed by the Dáil were the final nail in the coffin for many businesses in rural areas. Many public houses are in very serious trouble and their survival is in doubt. It has only come to light in the past month since the new regulations have come in. It has had catastrophic consequences. I am getting phone calls from business people who are now in serious trouble and from individuals who used to like a little social outing and are finding it difficult.

I attended a 60th birthday party at Ballineen about two weeks ago. The people who were there were conscious that they had to go somewhere the next day and were worried about having a drink or two the night before. There is complete confusion. The transport that the Minister, Deputy Ross, was offering the people was only a farce and a cod because nobody has anybody transport. The people are completely dependent on taxis. The problem is the next morning or whatever. It is a very serious issue and has led to closures.

Another pub in west County Cork, The Welcome Inn west of Bandon, has closed. It has been there for decades. It is not just pubs. It has a knock-on effect on many other aspects in rural areas. It is very difficult for politicians to find a solution for that because the Government and the previous one have been very focused on being anti-rural. We are trying to bring a focus to the difficulties of rural Ireland. It does not have to be the drink-driving issue; there are many issues. We need a real focus on rural Ireland that we cannot get from Government.

We have the same situation with broadband. We are slipping down a very dangerous road with broadband. That slippage has been evident for the past two or three years with the national broadband plan continually being put off. Eir is rolling out here and there whenever it suits it. No one in government has control over what is going on from what I can see. The plan could well be pulled off the pitch completely. That is a worst-case scenario, but it looks like we could be heading there. Sometimes I wonder if they are looking for an excuse so that they could do that.

While Eir and other companies may be providing broadband to villages, they must realise that the private operator is most likely supplying all around that village and is depending on the village to keep his business going. If these guys keep taking the rich pickings, the private operator will pull the plug and we will face a catastrophic situation. Whereas people might now be complaining about the little bit of broadband they have, but they could end up with no broadband at all for the next two or three years. That is a very serious issue that is not being addressed.

I will not mention much about the carbon tax. We are being pushed down a very serious road. Those of us who live in rural Ireland need our vehicles to go and come. We do not have a proper public transport service. From the peninsula where I live the bus leaves at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. and comes back at 6 p.m. There is no other transport service to allow people to commute during the day and they desperately depend on a car to get around.

I have a hands-on involvement with the meals-on-wheels project in my community. We have been very lucky that Citroën Ireland gave us a van through Denis and Mary Ryan in car sales in west Cork and down in Schull on the Mizen Peninsula. We have tried to tie that up with rural social workers and other CE schemes in order to get workers and volunteers because it is a very serious thing. Mr. Boland is right that there is no major co-ordination and it needs to be tied down because it is a lifeline for many elderly people.

I know many people who swore they would never have it and they would be dead only for having that dinner. It is so important for elderly people, especially those living on their own to have a hot dinner in the day because it is easy to supplement the morning and the evening after that. That service needs greater recognition right up along the line because in the long term it is saving the State a considerable amount of money. I accept that the HSE is on board, but there is only so much it can do. It has been a great help to rural communities with the section 39 funding for chefs, etc., in the community centres. Getting the dinners out to the little boreens throughout the country is so important. I commend Citroën Ireland on giving us a van for that. We cover a wide area in the peninsula and it goes around from door to door.

There is no greater place than the credit unions for me to send people who are in need of a little bit of a financial boost or a loan. I have done that more frequently of late with the people going for cataract, knee, hip and carpal tunnel operations through the cross-border healthcare directive. We have a list of about 200 people looking to get surgery. Of those 200 up to 80 or 90 might ask me for help do deal with the funding. They obviously have to pay upfront. They can forget about banks and I send them to the credit union. In 99.9% of the cases the credit union has delivered. I have nothing but praise for the credit unions across the board. They have been fantastic to people. It is just a case of going in the door and explaining the situation. Some people do not like using the term "bridging loan", but it is basically a bridging loan and three months later the money is repaid to the credit union. It has helped people to take that journey because the journey is long enough going up from Kerry, Cork or wherever. A bus is going up this weekend and next weekend. I cannot get enough buses up there. That would not work were it not for the credit union working with the public.

The credit unions have 3 million members and this is expanding. There is one negative. One bank in west County Cork had an unfortunate situation. Eight businesses in west County Cork have closed in the past six to eight weeks and The Welcome Inn west of Bandon is the ninth. Drimoleague post office was providing a service a few days a week, but it is now being closed, which is very serious for the people of Drimoleague who are drawing up a petition to overturn that decision. Skibbereen credit union made that decision which may have been for very good reasons. I am pleading with the witnesses to look at the Bantry and Dunmanway branches to see if it might come in and save it.

Like many other rural towns in Ireland, Drimoleague has experienced the most devastating closures over the years. As the song says, sometimes people must do it for themselves, and the people in Drimoleague have certainly done that. In fairness to Cork County Council, it recently did a fabulous resurfacing job and one could nearly eat one's dinner off the street without a plate. On top of that, a grant for painting the town was given, and every house and business in the town has been redecorated. The town is turning itself around and it needs a credit union.

If leaving Castletownbere, Bantry, Schull, the Sheep's Head Peninsula or wherever, some 99% of people will go through Drimoleague. It is a branch that should be open every day of the week because it would pick up customers every day. I come from a peninsula where the bank was shut and where people depend on a travelling bank that turns up a couple of days a week but they are not sure if it will be open. I ask for that region to be considered. I accept that the Irish League of Credit Unions wrote back to me to say it is looking into the matter but the people of Drimoleague are desperate for that decision to be overturned. It sends a negative message at a difficult time. Many businesses are closing but the credit union was never expected to be one of them. I ask that the decision be reconsidered.