Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I share the fear of my colleagues that we are tilting at windmills. The Minister's reply is of the same construct as the responses we have received for a period of months. I can only ask her whether there is any midway position that can be arrived at. Is there anything else she, in her position as Minister with responsibility for the Department of Social Protection, can do to demonstrate support and good will towards the sustenance of economic life in small town rural Ireland? The thrust seems to be towards the larger centres, with more and more centralisation. There is little evidence across a huge swathe of the country of cross-departmental interest in sustaining, let alone developing, economic activity in many locations similar to Ballybay. Is there any midway position the Minister could consider that would not see the operation in its entirety transfer? Is there any other role the Minister can see, from within her Department or in conjunction with colleagues, that might in some way help to ease the significant blow this represents and show some semblance of good will towards a community that is already struggling greatly to survive in these difficult times?

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