Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte i dtús báire roimh an díospóireacht seo. Tá áthas orm deis a fháil labhairt ar an ábhar seo - cothrom na Féinne do mhuintir na tuaithe. Bhí mé ar turas i nGaeltacht na Rinne i gContae Phort Lairge inné. Bhí áthas orm an obair atá á dhéanamh ag Údarás na Gaeltachta sa cheantar tuaithe Gaeltachta seo a fheiceáil. Is iontach an rud é go bhfuil daoine fostaithe sa cheantar. Agus é sin ráite, bíonn dúshláin ann i gcónaí. I acknowledge the population shifts that have taken place in this country over a long number of years. Deputy Tóibín alluded to the fact that over 50% of the population of our country now lives in the province of Leinster. Even within counties, we have seen a shift from rural areas to the cities or large towns. This has happened over a long number of years and I acknowledge and accept that this is the situation. That is why we accept the sentiments of Deputy Martin Kenny's Bill and hope that its principles will be debated by an Oireachtas Committee which can explore the issues further.

A number of Deputies made reference to the programme for Government and the preceding establishment talks. The Government did establish a Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Obviously every Department touches in some way on rural Ireland. It is impossible to bring everything into one Department. We cannot have a Department that looks after rural health and another that looks after city health because it is all interconnected. Likewise, we cannot have a Department for rural transport and another for urban transport. That simply would not work. There has to be cross-departmental collaboration on issues concerning rural Ireland. There is an interdepartmental committee and that is why the action plan for rural Ireland was published. All Departments have key targets and responsibilities to deliver on and there is an implementation group that is working to that plan.

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has outlined the reasons she cannot support the Bill. That is not to say we do not support the principle of improving life in rural Ireland and providing equality for people in rural Ireland. We want a plan that actually works. We would welcome the input of an Oireachtas committee in this regard. No previous Government has put in place such a co-ordinated and comprehensive plan of action to support rural development.

A number of Deputies - probably everybody who spoke - touched on the issue of broadband. I share the level of frustration that has been felt for many years by politicians, business people and rural dwellers as a consequence of the many false dawns there have been. I can understand the suspicions that persist, even with the latest commitment contract with Eir. I know that houses are already being connected. Houses in my own parish of Moycullen are being physically connected to fibre. There have been similar developments in the Cois Fharraige area of Connemara. People can see that it is coming. Some 300,000 houses that were not connected last year will be connected over the next 90 weeks. I appreciate there is more to do. I understand why people who are living in close proximity to areas that are connected ask why the service cannot be extended further down the road. People want to know why their neighbours can get these services but they cannot. Such services will be delivered over the next period of time.

A number of Deputies mentioned post offices. I am not going to pretend that this is not a challenge. It will continue to be a challenge. I remind Deputy Mattie McGrath that 288 post offices closed between 2005 and 2010 when the Government he supported was in power. There have been fewer closures since 2011 than there were during that period. That is not to say that challenges do not exist. I know that the Kerr and McKinsey reports are being examined. I hope we can ensure the existing post office network is saved.

I accept that there are issues with rural mobile phone coverage. There is a task force. An implementation group chaired by Ministers is seeking to ensure we improve rural broadband. I am aware that planning permission for a mast in my own area was not renewed because people objected to the mast. Funnily enough, some people were talking on their phones outside the local authority while they were objecting to the mast. Their objections have resulted in poor quality coverage in the area in question but that is beside the point. I accept that there are concerns about rural mobile phone coverage. The implementation group is looking at solutions in that regard.

Deputy Tóibín spoke about the spatial strategy, which has not worked. We are pursuing the Ireland 2040 strategy in its place. The projected growth under the spatial strategy did not materialise. That is why we have asked for inputs under Ireland 2040.

The Deputy also spoke about unemployment, which has decreased from 15% to 6% since 2011. I could speak at length about the challenges we have faced since that time, but my time is almost up.

The Government is committed to improving services in rural Ireland, despite all the challenges that exist, to ensure it gets a fair share of resources. I hope the sentiments of the Bill can be explored by an Oireachtas committee, which can then report back to the Dáil.

See this speech in context