Mrs. Marie O'Toole:

I am going to talk about real people on behalf of the Irish Countrywomen's Association.

I have travelled all over the country in the past few years and it saddens me greatly to see the decline in rural areas, with shops closed and a feeling of apathy among people living is isolated areas. People in rural Ireland are fearful, especially with the closure of Garda stations, post offices and banks.

In the past the Garda on the street was a safety net for people, especially those who ran small businesses. With the continuing increase in rural crime and the closure of Garda stations, the people feel completely isolated. Most of these businesses have now closed as the shop owners are in fear for their lives, as nothing seems to stop the perpetrators from targeting them again and again. When the culprits are apprehended, the courts hand out suspended sentences in most cases. This is in spite of these people having a litany of previous convictions.

The closure of the local post office, which was always at the heart of any community, is a huge mistake. The person who ran the local post office knew his or her customers. When older people come in they would have a chat, collect their pension and if they did not turn up on a specific day, the postmistress or postmaster would assign somebody to give them a call. We have to recognise that today's post office network as a national asset and ensure its future by making it the provider of choice and the front office for all Government services, for example motor tax, hospital charge, local authority payments and so on, in recognition of the important social role that post offices provide.

Three hundred communities have been identified as being threatened by flooding. As this data is available to insurance companies we are concerned it will be used to discriminate against homes and businesses in these communities, denying them access to affordable or perhaps any insurance. Other countries employ various risk equalisation policies to ensure building insurance is available to all. This can be achieved for example through community rating scheme as used for health insurance or a central fund, as used for uninsured drivers.

Rural broadband has been bandied around for so long. We have to provide clarity on what will happen at the end of the national broadband plan, particularly in further roll out from exchanges, giving a commitment to providing fibre to all homes over a defined period of time and to provide technical advice and priority access to community groups who wish to provide a service now.

The closure of banks is adding to the mayhem in rural areas. Everyone is being asked to bank online. How can people in rural areas do this if they do not have broadband? It is sad to think of all the money that the banks received from us the taxpayers and now they do not want us to enter their premises.

In recent times, several general medical practices have closed in small rural areas and the HSE have been unable to attract new practitioners. Sad to hear on the news yesterday evening too that 500 people were on trolleys in our hospitals. Our population is getting older. We are now only at the start of the winter and I can only imagine what it will be like in a few months time.

How can we improve life in rural areas? It is plain that the issues I have mentioned must be addressed. Apart from the all aforementioned, we should look after people in rural areas. They deserve the same respect and assistance as those living in urban areas. These are our people, there should be no divide. Give people in rural areas all the help they need to improve the quality of their lives. Let us get back to looking after each other and forge good community spirit, where neighbours look after each other. We also need help in support and leadership. The bottom up approach is a very good idea. I think local government should listen to people. People want basic help.