Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are not allowed to know how much input the Cabinet committee had into the Government's rural development plan, but there is really nothing in the plan that is new. Much like the promises we have had regarding health services, the document is long on rhetoric but without any real substance. The publication of the rural development plan coincides with the closure of post offices, Garda stations and public bus services. The allocation of €60 million over three years for 600 towns and villages is only window-dressing when we consider the significant structural and funding issues facing rural Ireland. The announcement, once again, of an Atlantic economic corridor is pointless unless there is a strategy to implement it, backed up by proper funding. If the Government is serious about addressing the imbalance of investment between urban and rural areas, there must be a substantial regional and rural strategy supported by substantial investment.

Does the Taoiseach accept that tillage farmers are facing a significant threat to their future? The Government's insistence that the low-cost loan fund in this year's budget will address the crisis ignores the nature of the threat because it does not deal with the cashflow problems facing grain farmers. If he has not already done so, will the Taoiseach commit to raising the matter with the European Commission and, in particular, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Phil Hogan? Will the Government seek financial support from the emergency funds, as France has done? If the French did it, why should we not do the same?

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