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

I appreciate that unemployment falls for many different reasons but I do not think it is correct to say unemployment is down in Donegal as a consequence of emigration because, based on the census, the population in Donegal is up. If I can dig the figures out from the folder showing the number of people in employment in Donegal, I will give them to the Deputy. I am sure the number of people in employment in Donegal has increased in recent years.

The Government and I acknowledge the very important and vital role of small business in all parts of our country, particularly in rural areas, when it comes to creating jobs and generating important tax revenues we use to build a better society. I will give some examples of the kinds of things the Government is doing. We reduced the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9%, which was of particular benefit to small businesses such as those in the service industry and hospitality, for example, restaurants, hairdressers and barber shops, all owned and run by the same people. There are many people in this House, especially among the parties of the left, who want to reverse it and increase the rate by 4.5%. It would be a mistake and doing it in one fell swoop would do real harm to small business and to employment, particularly in rural areas.

We have seen huge investment in tourism and the Deputy knows, as well as I do, the extent to which Donegal has benefited from the tourism boom, with record numbers of people coming to visit Ireland to enjoy what we have to offer in terms of tourism. In many cases they go to attractions which have been greatly enhanced and improved by Government capital investment. I refer to places such as Sliabh Liag, which is every bit as beautiful and wonderful as the Cliffs of Moher and where we invested to improve access so that more people can visit and enjoy it. There have been particular supports around the local enterprise offices, which were established in years gone by and, as was acknowledged by a Deputy opposite, have been responsible for creating many jobs in Roscommon. I am sure they do the same in Donegal.

Project Ireland 2040 is also coming and enormous investment will flow from that programme into rural areas, in housing, healthcare, broadband and schools. Of particular benefit to rural areas will be the investment in the regional road network, which is very much in need of improvement. The A5-N2 project will soon start to connect the northern part of Donegal to Northern Ireland and the Border counties and Dublin and is a vital infrastructure project to which I am very committed.

Investment in broadband is also vital. When this Government of Fine Gael, the Independent Alliance and Independents came to office, only 57% of premises in the country had access to high-speed broadband, but by the end of this year it will be close to 80%, which will rise to 100% in the years ahead when we sign the broadband contract.

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