Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy knows west Cork well, as do I, but anybody who would suggest that places like west Cork in rural Ireland - or that rural Ireland - are being abandoned by the Government simply is not looking at the facts. We are investing in rural communities right across the country and we will continue to do that. We have for the first time a medium-term plan for this country to move away from the dominance of the east coast and Dublin and urban centres generally to invest in rural Ireland in terms of the increasing population and that plan is starting to work. People should not continue to reinforce the view that somehow rural Ireland is being abandoned. There are pressures in rural Ireland but the Government continues to prioritise both social infrastructure across rural Ireland and many of the other businesses and enterprises that are part of rural life.

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