Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her statement. It is a welcome opportunity for this debate at this time in the context of Covid and Brexit. I acknowledge the work the Minister, as well as the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, have done since they took over. I also acknowledge the work of her predecessors, my constituency colleague, Deputy Ring, Deputy Ó Cuív and Pat Carey who served in Departments which laid the foundation for much of the work the Minister is now doing. I acknowledge the work of her civil servants, predominantly based in Ballina, my home town, who have worked extraordinarily hard with the Minister and her predecessor, Deputy Ring, to respond to the various crises over the past several months and who have put in place a Department responding to many of the challenges we face.

One of the best things the Minister could do for rural development is to reinstate the policy of decentralisation and to get more people to work outside of the capital in rural communities where they, particularly those in the Department of Transport, could experience the day-to-day challenges of life in rural areas.

The new rural policy will be welcome. It will take in the lessons we have learned from Covid but also from Brexit. The Copenhagen Economics report on Brexit stated there could be between 17,000 and 30,000 fewer jobs in our food industry depending on the severity of Brexit. An IBEC report from 2017, which still holds, stated rural areas are more than five times more reliant on Brexit-exposed jobs than urban areas. While considerable advantages have been shown during Covid, there are considerable challenges. The sectors which face the biggest post-Covid challenges in tourism and retail are predominantly based in rural areas. For many people, tourism is the anchor of their rural economy. We will have to respond quickly and comprehensively to rebuild that.

As well as the new rural policy, there is the national plan review. All the initiatives in her Department outlined by the Minister are welcome. We have to make big ticket investments in terms of infrastructure across rural Ireland, however. This would send a signal. Those big ticket investments would include further support for regional airports, including Ireland West Airport Knock, which I know got support last week. This time last year before Covid, we were talking about building a strategic development zone around the airport and exploiting the industrial and employment advantages for an area that suffered significant employment damage for many years.

The western rail corridor would result in putting freight and passengers back on track, while making public transport an attractive and feasible option. There are various regional and national roads with the Atlantic economic corridor. The Minister referred to it in the context of broadband connection points. However, the Department needs to lead a strategy for developing the Atlantic economic corridor as a counterweight. This would take the pressure off accommodation, infrastructure and public services that were so apparent until Covid began. That is an area the Department can re-energise as we redevelop the Atlantic economic corridor.

The new action plan for rural development needs to look at the benefits of homeworking. NUI Galway, with the Western Development Commission, did an interesting survey which showed that 94% of respondents want to continue to work remotely some, or all, of the time after the Covid crisis. The Minister made the important point that not everybody wants to continue to work at home. Instead, they want to go to a place of work with collegiality, as well as the separation of work from home. The connection of innovation centres, broadband connection points and a support for communities to develop that kind of location is absolutely essential. Those who participated in the survey had not previously considered homeworking. More importantly, when we see employers giving homeworking as a choice because they had no option and realised that it works, then there are significant opportunities there for the west coast.

The broadband issue continues to be a major bone of contention. The Minister does not need to be told that, coming from a rural constituency.

The urgent roll-out of the national broadband plan is crucial. There cannot be any delays. We must also look at the existing providers, particularly Eir. I know the Ceann Comhairle is fed up with Topical Issue matters related to Eir, but the roll-out of broadband is causing huge aggravation in rural communities. There must be far more co-ordination with Eir on the roll-out of the national broadband plan. Neighbour is literally pitted against neighbour in the roll-out of broadband. That is not the way to do business. It cannot be allowed to continue. Home working and homeschooling have shown the deficiencies of broadband, but the opportunities are there. We need better co-ordination and greater ambition in the roll-out of broadband facilities.

The Minister mentioned several schemes. I welcome last week's announcement of 100% funding for greenways. A lot of the Minister's schemes depend on funding from local authorities. Local authorities have just come through a very difficult financial period. I compliment the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on responding to this with a 100% rates remission. Any local authority that is considering reducing services should reconsider in light of the Government's investment in local authority finances. However, cash resources will be scarce for the foreseeable future. I ask the Minister to have regard to local authorities' ability to invest in Government funding programmes and consider a model of 100% Government funding for some key projects.

All rural communities throughout the European Union are suffering in similar ways. All of the difficulties and challenges that we face, including those related to depopulation, services and infrastructure, could be addressed on a pan-European basis. State aid rules must be revised to allow Governments to help rural communities to repopulate, invest in infrastructure and support businesses without contravening them. I refer in particular to small local businesses. There will be an appetite for such a revision throughout Europe.

Tá a lán de na ceantair Ghaeilge i gceantair thuaithe agus tá sé tábhachtach go ndéanaimid gach iarracht cabhrú leis an nGaeilge ag an am seo. Most of our Gaeltacht communities are in rural areas and are facing particular population challenges. I welcome the fact that the Minister is involving other Ministers in this. The former Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, and I used to spar at question time in the previous Dáil. One thing we agreed on was the siloed approach in so many areas of the Government's work. For want of a better phrase, too many Departments dump all of their rural and community work on the Minister's Department. That is simply not on. Every Department has a role to play in rejuvenating our rural communities. It should not all be left to the Minister present and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien.

In the area of education, we have to look at the rules around schools and the pupil-teacher ratio. That must once again favour and protect rural schools. A school is the heart of a community. Rural communities can build out from there. I have already referred to local government issues. In the area of transport, Local Link services need more support and better co-ordination. The physical investment we are now seeing must be reflected in our local and regional roads. The local improvement scheme, LIS, is excellent but it is choked by bureaucracy. It should be freed up and the power to decide where the funding goes should be returned to local councillors rather than staying with the Department of Rural and Community Development. The Minister is busy enough without having to decide what bóithrín in what county should get funding. I call on the Minister to give local government the authority to spend the money. It will spend it well, as it always has.

The Minister mentioned town and village renewal, which is crucial. We are all seeing the death of towns and villages. We need to examine the planning laws with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to see why towns and villages have so many empty buildings that could be used as accommodation to address our housing crisis. The upstairs spaces in many business premises could be rejuvenated as community facilities. If combined with proper public transport and proper investment in schools, that would have a serious effect.

We could speak about this issue for many hours, but the Minister will be bringing the plan forward. I ask her to engage with us all on it. Equally, these issues challenge us to engage with her Department. I wish the Minister continued success. She will have our support. The ideas we can bring to this debate are crucial. I thank the Minister's Department officials for their extraordinary work during an extraordinary year. Let us hope we can build on the lessons we have learned in 2020 to lay good foundations for the years ahead.

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