Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I accept the points made by the Deputy regarding the survey, which was very interesting and comprehensive. One important finding was that over 90% of those surveyed said that they were happy in the place where they lived. That was great news and it mirrored the impression I got when I toured those areas and spoke to people.

The surveyors were clever in that they selected an area in the Connemara Gaeltacht, Clarinbridge, which is partly urban. They then selected Glinsk, which is a very strong farming area. The final area surveyed was in the south of the county, around Laurencetown, if my memory serves me correctly. The aim was to survey a mix of areas — strong farming areas, poor farm and fishing areas in the Gaeltacht and partly urban areas.

The survey produced some very interesting information. There were no complaints, for example, in Gorumna about the roads and while I do not think the situation is perfect, the Gaeltacht road strategy has paid dividends. However, there were many complaints about health services in that area. It is also the area with the highest number of people who want their own children to settle there, which is a great indicator of how happy people are. It was a very interesting study.

Deputy O'Shea is correct in his comments about the imbalance in educational skills. In rural Ireland in the past, those who received an education moved on and moved out of an area, while those who were not educated stayed on to farm the family land, which poses challenges for us today. We must recognise that people aged 50 or 55 are not likely to train or enter the conventional education system to get a fancy job in an electronics or software company. However, many of them have a wealth of skills and under the rural social scheme we have been working to develop those indigenous skills. We should never dismiss skills. The revival of interest in the skill of dry stone walling, as well as the amount of money that people are willing to pay for it, is incredible. Such a skill cannot be acquired at university, it exists among the rural community who have practised it and handed it on from generation to generation. There are different types of skills and we should not dismiss those of older farmers, acquired through traditional activities.

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