Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Three members of this committee were present at a meeting with Galway County Council the other day. We were informed that it was focusing on certain big towns in the county. It is interesting that it picked Athenry. The latter is a fine town; it is actually the location that has been designated to ease growth in the city. It is not a very rural town. It received €5.5 million, mainly through the urban fund. It is the new centre for IDA Ireland in east Galway as opposed to being an area for rural development. I have a concern with the way this is constructed. It might not have been the Minister's intention, but I am concerned that this will be driven in this way. The excuse that will be given will be the national spatial strategy which is totally focused on towns and growing urban agglomerations. I listened to Waterford County Council when the committee went there last week, and all the county and city manager could talk about was big urban development. He did not mention rural development even though he was addressing members of this committee. The county manager in Galway stated on Monday that the message from the Government seems to be to focus on the bigger places. Such an approach will not help the smaller locations.