Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I appreciate that and I appreciate the sentiment because what Mr. Talbot is saying reflects a broader frustration in Irish society. The Cathaoirleach alluded to it as well. There are great plans and great ambition in them but the delivery is lacklustre. It is not there and tangible outputs have to be the priority. That has been reflected in the budget yesterday. The allocation for infrastructure is at an all-time high.

I am conscious of the time but I want to pay a compliment to Ms Karen Ronan, the CEO of Galway Chamber. She has hit the ground running and is making a big impact with the membership there but there is work to be done for Chambers Ireland across the broader network of the more rural towns. There are no town councils at the moment and I think chambers, along with community councils, are one of the stronger representative bodies of activity in and the life of a town. They are best positioned to indicate or dictate how a town should progress. There are a lot of towns out there that really do not have a strong chamber at the moment or they do not have a lot of engagement. The chambers in the cities are really strong. They are thriving. There are events and there is activity. The chambers in our rural towns definitely need to be strengthened, if that is possible. I would appreciate a minute of commentary on that.