Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While I fully accept the value of woodlands in urban areas and the importance that we, in our urban living, put on natural resources, I am not in a position to comment on the specific case the Deputy raises. Coillte is not an agency under my Department so, unfortunately, I cannot comment on the merits of the case being put forward, although it sounds persuasive as the Deputy sets it out.

While I can assure the Deputy that balanced regional development will be a core commitment in any programme for Government, I am not going to enter into controversy in regard to any negotiations that may be taking place around the formation of Government. We have seen significant progress in balanced regional development in recent years and we have to sustain that. In my area, when I was responsible for enterprise, we created for the first time regional enterprise strategies that have been very successful. The Department of the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, has been very vibrant in producing schemes that support rural and village communities and town centre revival and we need to see more of that sort of connection.

From a climate perspective, rural Ireland also has to recognise that change has to be made and structural changes will have to happen in our rural communities. To go back to the point made by Deputy Kerrane, it is of course important that we bring people with us but we cannot pretend structural change is not going to happen, so it is about finding how we deliver that structural change, some of which is difficult to get one's head around. Hopefully, people will see the merit of the direction the Government is trying to bring them in.

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