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

The Minister is a great story teller and the way he tells it is great but for people living in rural Ireland, the story is not so good. I do not begrudge people in Dublin and other urban areas their fair share of Government funding. My issue is with the imbalance in terms of what is being spent in rural Ireland. We are crying out for broadband and for transport providing connectivity from village to village. Under the PSO we had transport services which have now been stopped. We need those services back. Rural Ireland is no different to urban Ireland in terms of need. People need to get from A to B, C, D and E. The Minister must admit that there are not enough transport services being provided in rural Ireland. The Minister can shout loudly and quote all the statistics he likes but the facts tell a different story. People in rural Ireland need more connectivity and more services.

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