Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a difference between advocating for a place and undermining it. I always support people who advocate for their area, be it a town, a city or the country from where they come, or the rural area they represent. There is a big difference between advocacy and undermining. Advocacy involves acknowledging problems and coming up with solutions, and undermining the place from where one comes from actually deters investment and puts people off moving in to those areas, making it harder to do what we need to do.

On the Government's and my commitment to rural Ireland, one of the first actions I took as Taoiseach was to appoint a Cabinet level Minister for Rural and Community Development.

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