Ms Louise Lennon:

I thank the committee for inviting us to attend this meeting. I am involved with Irish Rural Link, but I am attending today with Coalition 2030. The Department of Rural and Community Development is the main Department we deal when it comes to progress on the SDGs.

With regard to its progress on the SDGs and its overall policy and strategy, Our Rural Future, many of the actions are on sustainable communities and decent work, but there seems to be a lack of emphasis on poverty and equality. The Department's next five-year strategy, which it is starting to think about, needs to include these. Members will have heard from my colleagues that rural areas have higher income inadequacy and homes that are harder to heat. That needs to be addressed across government.

Let me pick up on some of Deputy Paul Donnelly's questions on education, digital technology, broadband and the difficulties during Covid. We have called for high-speed broadband for a long time. That it is being rolled out is welcome but there are still parts of the country and homes without broadband. This is still causing difficulty for householders, including those trying to work from home. It is mostly about having equipment for lower-income and poorer households that do not have the laptop or other computer and have to share one piece of equipment among three or four children, which can cause difficulties.

It is also a matter of older people having digital skills. As we move to e-tech and e-health, we must remember that we have an ageing population. Access to GPs has become more difficult for older people in rural areas. When GPs retire, it is difficult to replace them in rural areas. If patients do not have access to a car, travel can become more difficult. In this regard, there is a need for enhancements and lifelong skills. The whole life cycle has to be covered so people will have the necessary skills and equipment to use technology, including technology to help them to remain in their homes as they get older.

Deputy Paul Donnelly also mentioned waste management. In rural areas, it is not just a question of cost because it is also more difficult to manage waste. All the companies delivering waste management services, including recycling, are private. Many rural areas do not even have these facilities, and many do not have the brown bin as an option. A large part of the argument made is that if you contact your waste management service, you are told there are not enough people in the area using the service. There could be three or four bin lorries out per week but all from different companies. Not having the service available to people increases the cost because food waste goes into the black bin or general waste bin.

Transport still remains a major issue for people in rural areas. Access to public transport is an issue. If we are serious about meeting the SDGs and reducing poverty, we must consider this. Transport for people in rural areas represents a major cost, so there needs to be proper investment in rural transport and ensuring it can be adapted to community and local needs.

We must communicate the SDGs more to people in rural areas. We must ensure that they are brought in through the public participation networks, PPNs, and that the latter are aware of them and have up-to-date knowledge on them. Town teams are now being developed, so we must ensure that they have access to the relevant information and that it can be accessed easily and in plain language. Many people on PPNs and town teams are volunteers from the local communities. It will be important to ensure that the language used is accessible to everyone.