Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I am sorry I am late but I was at another meeting. The uncertainty caused by Brexit allied to the non-operation of the executive in Northern Ireland are two significant issues which the witnesses have highlighted and crystallised for us this morning. They have given us a wake-up call on the real impact of Brexit. However, Deputy Martin Kenny is right that until that matter is finalised, everyone is in a bit of a vacuum. One is hazarding guesses. While the Governments are focused on the resolution associated with Brexit, everything else will stand still. We have a lost decade also on foot of the economic downturn that affected this island and countries across the world. It was especially severe within this island.

I was aware of the INTERREG funding in the region. I come from the midlands but a lot of the towns referred to this morning are only up the road and I could reach them within an hour. I was struck by the point a witness made that LEADER funding may well be falling between the cracks, which is an issue that must be highlighted and grasped. At minimum, there is a necessity to ring-fence funding for cross-Border projects. As an agriculture spokesman, I saw the immediate impact of the Brexit vote two years ago on the mushroom industry and other parts of the sector. It was significant and some of the farmers involved were almost wiped out. Deputy Kenny and I were involved with a number of them and we saw the impact it had. We have a huge export base in the mushroom industry and if one looks further afield, one of the areas about which we are worried involves cheddar cheese. We have a huge volume of that moving across the Border.

I come from a rural area and what has resonated most with me this morning is what has been said about the impact of rural depopulation and decline. There is an epidemic in that regard across the island. Do the witnesses know of any specific measures that are required to deal with the rampant decline of small towns, villages and communities across the Border region? The situation is symptomatic of what is occurring across the island. There is a challenge with outward migration. People are gravitating to towns. The situation becomes self-fulfilling because big industry, such as those in the pharmaceutical or healthcare areas, gravitate towards colleges. That is great for the towns concerned. Dundalk has done well in that regard, which is a tremendous achievement. That is wonderful, but given the challenge of dealing with the threats posed by Brexit, can the witnesses outline any specific policy measures or resources that are required to stem the tide? That is important because areas are nothing without people and people will not be there unless we provide gainful employment for them as close as possible to those areas. One cannot have an industry in every town. It is like people arguing the case for having a small hospital in every town. That is a nonsensical approach. The point was made about connectivity and broadband which allow people to operate small businesses from their homes. Such infrastructure could allow people to create two or three jobs per business and although they are small in number they are critical to the survival and sustainability of rural communities.