Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil supports the main principles of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2017 which establishes the new Department of Rural and Community Development. However, we believe there would be better policy coherence by having rural and Gaeltacht development policy centred in one Department. Therefore, we have tabled Committee Stage amendments to provide for adding the Gaeltacht portfolio to the new Department.

Fianna Fáil established the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs with the senior Minister having responsibility for rural affairs, the Gaeltacht and the islands. However, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government abolished the Department in 2011 and, only after pressure, assigned rural affairs to a Minister of State. The new Taoiseach has decided to break up the rural Department set up in 2016 by splitting rural development from the Gaeltacht and the islands and putting the portfolios into two Departments. This is very poor judgment and illustrates the knowledge deficit of the new Taoiseach on rural Ireland. Once more, it shows that Fine Gael does not understand the policy challenges facing rural parishes countrywide and continues to give preference to development in fewer locations.

Representing the constituency of Waterford, I deal with rural and urban issues. The difference between both are immense, given the difficulties with broadband, services, roads and isolation. Rural Ireland has suffered profoundly. Investment and job creation opportunities have been disproportionately focused on large urban areas. The result has been the erosion of community life in rural areas as people are forced to relocate to support their families. This in turn has put enormous pressure on housing in areas such as Dublin, Cork, Waterford and other areas of dense population.

Fianna Fáil has long recognised the need to revitalise rural Ireland. This formed a key part of our general election manifesto and we focused on it during the talks to facilitate a minority Government. The confidence and supply arrangement contains a clear commitment to develop new community development schemes for rural areas. It is important this is acted on without delay. The Government must make it attractive for people to live in small towns and villages. I come from a small town with a population of approximately 2,000 people. There must be investment in general practitioner services, rural schools, broadband and other key services. In addition, the IDA must increase its efforts to attract jobs to rural areas, as this is the only way we can revitalise our towns and villages in the long run.

Fianna Fáil is committed to building an Ireland for all, where the fruits of recovery are felt throughout the country and with more regional balance.

In the confidence and supply arrangement to facilitate a minority government, Fianna Fáil extracted policy commitments on rural Ireland to be implemented over the Government's term. We have been successful in having some of these commitments partially implemented, including the re-establishment of the CLÁR programme, expansion of the rural social scheme and reversal of the 2012-13 farm assist cuts. Much more needs to be done, however.

I will address the broadband issue first. It is shocking that more than 500,000 rural households and businesses will have to wait until as late as 2024 for State intervention to deliver moderate speed broadband. The national broadband plan was first launched in 2012 and the litmus test of its success will be what additional new funding will be ring-fenced for it. It was interesting to note on the RTE programme, "Ear to the Ground", how a community in Clashmore came together as a result of the lack of broadband. People in rural areas are sick of waiting for broadband. A west Waterford community that tackled the issue head on believes it has stumbled on a blueprint that other communities could use to get connected. West Waterford Community Broadband started in 2011 from an online conversation between a small number of local techies. It is now a successful, locally run broadband scheme that is solving the connectivity issue for more than 100 families in the Clashmore and Kinsalebeg area of west Waterford and the number is growing.

As a result of the community not having a clear vantage point to cover its scattered settlements, it was not well served by broadband services. However, a committee did the research and its members climbed ladders. Thanks to the arrival of increasingly powerful, cheap and relatively easy-to-use wireless technology, it started to make the connections that linked up the region and is now providing services equivalent in reliability and cost to those available in adjacent towns. The scheme is working well and shows at first hand the versatility of people living in rural areas and community spirit coming to the fore.

Security is also becoming an issue for rural dwellers and the West Waterford Community Broadband scheme has some users with dedicated cameras who issue email alerts when movement is detected by the cameras. Initiated in response to the failure of a commercial provider in the area, the community-orientated service now aims to operate alongside other operators, providing a service to those who are not well served while maintaining choice.

Another issue that rural dwellers are very concerned about is the closure of Garda stations in small towns and villages. People miss the local garda, the comfort of knowing he or she is living in the area and interacting with him or her. The closure of rural Garda stations has had a real impact on rural communities, with many people left isolated by the lack of a visible Garda presence in their towns and villages. Again, communities have fought back by setting up community alert groups, working with the Garda and informing friends and neighbours of suspicious activities. Restoring a strong Garda presence in rural Ireland must be a priority.

Small rural schools need to be protected and nurtured. All too often in small communities, the two or three-teacher school is the focus of the old community. Parents were educated in these schools and want their children to be educated in the same school. Pressure is too often put on families to enrol their children in more modern, larger and shinier schools with newer facilities such as interactive white boards and plenty of other supports. However, in some cases the small village school is the hub of the community and we need to support such schools as much as we support other schools.

The recent strike in Bus Éireann brought into sharp focus the absolute dependency of rural areas on Bus Éireann. People living in Dublin and other cities are spoiled for choice. They need only walk out their front door to find taxis, buses, bicycle lanes, the Luas or the DART. This is not the case in rural Ireland where people are dependent on Bus Éireann to attend hospital appointments, visit family and friends, shop and collect their pension on Thursday or Friday. Fortunately, Local Link, a rural bus service, has stepped in and identified the gaps and routes not covered by Bus Éireann. The quality of the service the organisation provides cannot be underestimated. As a member of the board of Local Link in Waterford, I commend the drivers who operate the service. They collect older people from their homes, often on laneways that are inaccessible to larger buses, and bring them home after a couple of hours. They often carry passengers' shopping into their homes. This is an example of the value of rural Ireland.

Agriculture is the beating heart of rural Ireland. Fianna Fáil is committed to securing a fair price for farmers' products, ensuring the future of the family farm model and introducing a fair and transparent inspection regime.

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment to his new role. While Fine Gael has been great at talking the talk on supporting rural Ireland, the time for meaningful action is long overdue. I hope this new Department, with the Minister at its helm, will start to deliver action and in that regard I wish the Minister the best of luck.

See this speech in context