Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Collins. Like many constituencies around the country, Cavan-Monaghan feels completely neglected because of the non-availability of broadband. As my colleagues have rightly outlined, we expect farmers to get their house in order even though they are unable to access departmental schemes online. Schools cannot access or use teaching tools because they do not have broadband. Every time an elderly person goes into a local bank, if there is a bank left in his or her local area, he or she is constantly pushed by the officials behind the counter to use online banking.

Pockets of my constituency from Bawnboy to Kilmainhamwood and from Canningstown to Corduff are suffering from depopulation. Tanagh outdoor education service, which receives up to 15,000 visitors each year, is also being affected by depopulation. Young people cannot aspire to live in the areas they come from because they do not have basics like broadband. People are bewildered, exasperated and fed up of the broken promises in this regard. We are constantly talking about rural crime.

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