Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The communities of rural Ireland continue to struggle with the disparity of the two-tier recovery which has been presided over by successive Fine Gael-led Governments during the past eight years. Rural Ireland delivered a very clear message to Fine Gael following the 2016 general election as the people stated in no uncertain terms that the so-called recovery was not being felt in the regions. The people of rural Ireland face a litany of problems in their daily lives, with stripped-down services, bank closures, post office closures, Garda station closures and the ever-present threat of rural crime. We are simply not in the same ballpark as the cities when it comes to service provision, infrastructure and basic supports.

At a recent event in Carlow, in which Vodafone and SIRO were launching their latest gigabit hub as part of an initiative to roll out remote working hubs in the south east, data was revealed which showed that 22,000 commuters leave Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford a day to travel to work in Dublin in their cars, on buses and on trains. This is an important statistic. We can be certain this is a common trend in many other counties that are within an hour or two of Dublin. I have two points to make. The first is the need for additional capacity on our rail and bus services which accommodate commuters in their daily trip to and from the capital. We also need to ensure there are adequate broadband services on these methods of travel to allow our commuters the opportunity make their commute more productive, be it getting ahead of the day's emails or researching a presentation they may have to make later that day, and so on. Second, I took a drive through Edenderry, County Offaly, recently for the first time in years and I was very encouraged to see something of a rejuvenated town centre. Previously boarded-up shop fronts and abandoned buildings were now bustling new businesses, such as food outlets and small niche shops and businesses. This is due to the fact people are working in Dublin and brining something back to the area. We are in the midst of a rental and housing crisis and I believe people who find themselves priced out of the Dublin house market are flocking to our so-called commuter towns and villages. Again, this reinforces the need for additional capacity on our rail and bus services to be addressed, but it also represents an opportunity for commuter towns in rural Ireland to attract more people, increase population and boost their local economies. It is something the Government should seek to capitalise upon.

Of course, it would be better if we had fewer people commuting to Dublin from rural areas for work but that is not the current reality. We do not have equal employment opportunities in our regional towns and villages for young working parents and families who, in turn, are forced to spend two, three or four additional hours a day away from their young children, travelling to and from work. Infrastructure is the key factor. We will never revitalise our rural towns and villages unless they have an equal platform of broadband and connectivity services which they can rely upon. We cannot encourage a person to set up or expand a business in his or her locality and create jobs when competitors in Dublin or Cork are streets ahead simply because they can avail of decent broadband and phone signal. I hear this on a regular basis from people who want to live in my parish. Some of them came to me lately and asked me what is the speed of broadband there. They are working in Dublin but could do their work from my parish, but because the broadband speed is not good enough, they cannot build. It is very important to rural Ireland that we get broadband rolled out as soon as possible.

A recent parliamentary question response from the Minister, Deputy Ring, revealed that in Carlow alone, which is not a huge county in terms of surface area, there are 36 mobile phone blackspots. We have to facilitate enterprise and entrepreneurship in our rural towns and villages because this is what creates jobs and stimulates local economies. People employing, working and spending in their locality is what develops a region. Broadband is the key. No matter what way we spin it, the national broadband plan has been an unmitigated disaster. Over 500,000 rural households and businesses will still have to wait until 2023 at the earliest for State intervention to receive moderate speed broadband, over ten years on from when the national broadband plan was first launched in 2012.

Rural SMEs are also being crippled by excessive commercial rates and unpayable premiums for business insurance. The Government has taken a snail’s pace approach to these issues, in particular by commissioning report after report and setting up various working groups which are nothing more than toothless tigers. It is time for rates to be looked at again as many people are being crippled by them. Rates should be based not alone on the square meterage but on turnover and ability to pay. The rates system is outdated and the Government should look at it. If our party comes into government in the next couple of years, we will look at rates again and have a better and fairer system for SMEs to keep them going.

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