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

Teachta Ó Cuív made me lose my train of thought. All Deputies in rural Ireland have the interest of rural Ireland at heart and none more so than the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring. I appreciate that amendments have been tabled and there will be votes and all of that, but I hate to think there would be any delays in establishing this Department before the summer recess. There is no point talking about not having funds for rural Ireland if we are going to stop a Ministry from being established for rural Ireland so we have the Minister there fighting over the summer for the budget to put in place for the plans we have. There is scope in this Dáil and new politics for suggestions to be made about things that can be done. We are interested in hearing them. We are interested in hearing any coherent arguments on what we can do to improve rural Ireland. There is a lot going on in rural Ireland and much that is positive. It has become fashionable for certain people to talk down rural Ireland and say it is in decline. It is under pressure. Many areas of the country are under pressure. It is under pressure from urbanisation because 50% of the population lives in Leinster. That did not happen overnight. It did not happen in the past five years. It has been happening continually. It happens across the world where there is a change and where people move from rural to urban centres. It is a pressure that many cities and countries face. It is about ensuring we put in place the infrastructure.

I agree with everyone who talks about the importance of broadband and how crucial it is. It is great to see in my townland and many others in my parish of Moycullen that eir is rolling out broadband with a commitment to the Government contract; there will be State fines if it does not roll out broadband to 300,000 houses. It is ongoing and extra customers are being connected to fibre broadband in homes in rural Ireland. There are positive things taking place. As Minister of State, the Minister said we should look at schemes such as local improvement schemes. There have been reductions in roads budgets. It came up during the Government formation talks and even though there have been increases in the last two budgets, road infrastructure for rural Ireland is under pressure and it needs more investment. We will continue to fight for it and it will be one of the things we will be looking at.

I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and working with the Minister, Deputy Ring, and Government colleagues to push forward the case for rural Ireland. I hope the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2017 will be progressed today through the House and through the Seanad tomorrow so we can get the Department established. When we do that, we will see what extra functions, responsibilities and budgets we get to ensure we invest in improving the lives and opportunities of people in rural Ireland.

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