Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The CSO report was interesting but the Deputy and I could have written it. We both live in rural Ireland and know the distances people have to travel to access services. This is why we built 18 health centres. We did so to make it easier for people to access services. I read the CSO report the other day. The situation in rural England or rural Spain is no different from the situation here. We will not be able to have hospitals and other large services in every town and village. However, the Deputy must agree that we in rural areas have a quality of life that people elsewhere do not have. While people may have services in Dublin, if one is in the city in the morning or after 3 p.m., one will see congestion and people having to stay in their cars. I feel sorry for these people who have to travel early in the morning and late in the evening. The one thing we have in rural Ireland is quality of life.

Over the past three years, through the town and village renewal scheme, the rural regeneration and development fund, the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme and other schemes, the Department has put in place facilities and provided jobs. Six out of every ten jobs created last year were in rural Ireland. We must get more jobs into the regions because more services will follow.

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