Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In many parts of rural Ireland people cannot access those online services because they do not have broadband. The Minister really needs to deal with that issue. The points the Minister has made have some validity. It is true that services are not being used. Someone should have thought about the services being provided and questioned whether they were the correct services. It is clear that the post office services did not move with the times. We will park that issue for the moment.

There are issues concerning the roads in rural Ireland, which the Minister mentioned earlier. I welcome the money that was provided for local improvement schemes earlier in the year but will more money be put into such schemes before the end of this year, as happened last year? Some €17 million was provided for the schemes in 2017, and this year the amount is around €10 million. Can we come close to matching the figure from last year?

The reality for people is that rural Ireland is dying. That is the bare reality. When the children of these people are raised and go off to college, there is no opportunity for them to return to the place they come from. We do not want rural Ireland to become a tourist resort or a holiday home for retired people. We want it to be a vibrant community, where people want to live and work. We need to see that happen, we need to make it happen, but it will only happen with Government investment. Investment in broadband is key to ensuring that it will happen.

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