Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief because I want to be sure that my colleagues get time to contribute.

We have to look at what is there in rural communities. We have to look at the existing nucleus of the smaller villages and towns and we must enhance them. If the pandemic has taught us anything over the past three to four months, it is that. People have been working from home. The term "remote working" was used but it is smart working. They have been working from rural communities and the great enabler there is, of course, broadband. We must ensure that we provide for and consider strategically ensuring that people are accommodated and to enhance the communities that are already there. We have seen many people thanking God that they lived in rural communities during this pandemic, that is, they lived in places that are safe. We must take that message from the past number of weeks and agree that we have to look at another way. We have been looking at the national planning framework and all the rest of it. We must have a targeted look at all the villages and town throughout this country, where there are many vacant houses in rural communities that we could enhance and encourage. The policy must be clear and must be that we are about repopulating rural Ireland. It has to be about a social contract to make sure that people have the best quality of life. We have experience of that in our rural villages and towns where we have excellent educational facilities and some fantastic sporting facilities but we have to bend that into our strategic plan going forward. That will enable us in the climate change and all the other current debates but we cannot forget our rural communities.

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