James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome this measure and agree with the previous speaker. This country needs an effective housing strategy to tackle many things, particularly the substandard housing in rural Ireland. There are over 600 ghost estates throughout the country that are a scourge and a blight on the landscape. There is a housing crisis in Dublin and the other larger cities. This is not the case in rural Ireland. We need a strategy to help fill housing units in rural Ireland, particularly in the midlands, to the benefit of the local economy.

Time and again we have moved the administration of functions such as the processing of SUSI grants to the capital city. Medical card applications are administered in Finglas. This brings people from rural Ireland to Dublin and puts pressure on housing stock and accommodation. The universities are located in the cities around the country. Athlone Institute of Technology is a fine college, but a university is needed in the midlands, where accommodation is cheap. Concessions should also be given to returning emigrants, many of whom would be happy to come back to their roots and live in local communities. Services need to be relocated from cities to rural Ireland. This would be a win-win for rural Ireland because the money would be spent locally in shops, restaurants and supermarkets, thereby improving the fabric of rural towns.

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