Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In a nutshell, what Ms de Bhailís is saying is that she is the meat in the middle of the two initiatives that Dr. Keaveney and Dr. Seoighe have been involved in. Creating Our Future is the national one and there is a local one that has taken place with the three villages, yet there is an opportunity there in that regard.

I have seen it in terms of retrofitting. We had the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in earlier this morning. There is a 24-month waiting list now for the retrofitting of homes of people in acute poverty. A big part of the problem is getting contractors. Much of the deficit is in rural communities more so than in urban communities, although there are plenty of contractors located in rural areas who travel to Dublin, Galway and Cork to get employment, while there is all this potential employment locally for them. They could be servicing not only their own community but regions across the country.

I thank the witnesses for their evidence this morning. I suggest that they would take away a copy of the committee's work programme, which is reviewed on an annual basis. We will be looking at it again towards the end of this year. I ask them to look and see how the concepts they talk about here could be incorporated into the committee's work programme for next year. I say that not just in regard to our committee remit, but the remits of various committees across the spectrum, so that there is a greater connection and relationship between the Oireachtas and the research community, because it is about engaged research and informed decisions being taken and that can only happen if we try to build that relationship. What is happening in Dingle is proof of what can happen when we bring all the players together. I thank each and every one of the witnesses for their evidence this morning.

That concludes the committee's business for today. Next week we will engage with representatives from the National Transport Authority, Irish Rural Link, and hopefully the Health Service Executive, on sustainable rural transport and connecting it in with the health service as well.