Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Ring, and I look forward to working with him as part of the partnership Government. Being a west of Ireland man, I am delighted he has taken on this role.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. Everyone knows we must revitalise rural Ireland. As the economy begins to recover, we must ensure the benefits of that recovery are experienced by all our citizens, including people in rural Ireland. We must ensure that there is a co-ordinated approach in delivering this. As stated in the programme for Government, we must ensure balanced national development is achieved. The means to achieve this is by creating sufficient scale in the west through the Atlantic economic corridor. We must develop the necessary infrastructure to attract jobs and to create an environment whereby we can keep people living and working in their local towns and villages and on their family farms. There must be a co-ordinated approach. We must have what I describe as infrastructure-led development. We must have proper road infrastructure, broadband, rail networks, airports, water, sewerage and rural transport. They are all key components in the development of balanced growth.

To achieve all this for rural Ireland, we must ensure rural Ireland remains at the top of the agenda. In establishing a dedicated Department, we are not just paying lip service to this but beginning to keep rural Ireland at the top of the agenda. We will now have a Minister who will have a dedicated team - a captain and a team - to lead rural Ireland to full recovery. I live in Galway East in rural Ireland. People are delighted to be living there and are very proud of their roots, but we wish to ensure more people can live there and that people who are suffering in overcrowded Dublin, as has been mentioned by other Deputies, are given an opportunity to live and work in rural Ireland as well as join our football and GAA clubs. That will ensure rural Ireland is a vibrant place in which to live.

Ireland is the talk of the world in terms of our green grass and scenery, but we must also ensure it is a place in which people can live in comfort. I look forward to the establishment of this Department. Since his appointment as Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ring has brought a great deal of infrastructure and investment to rural Ireland. He has done some of the job. As an Independent Alliance Member, I am proud to be here and to be part of a Government that is bringing rural Ireland to the top of the agenda. I wish the Minister, Deputy Ring, the best of luck and I look forward to working with him. I realise there will be difficulties in trying to achieve everything we want to achieve, but working together as a team we will try to achieve it all.

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