Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak during these statements. The primary objective of those of us who grew up and live in rural areas is to see those communities thrive. We must protect and sustain the rural life that so many people enjoy so they can live, work and raise their families there. We must ensure that future generations can live and work in our rural towns and villages. The schoolgoing children of today should not be forced to emigrate after school or college, as many of my generation were. Workers should not be forced into their cars to commute for hours on end or forced to move to urban areas to pay huge rents and work just to live.

For many years the options for young people and families have been to emigrate or to move to Dublin. In the end it comes down to investment. There must be equal investment east and west, North and South. In many cases that is what has been missing for decades. The Minister spoke earlier about balanced recovery after Covid-19. That is so important. We have to recognise that there was no such balanced recovery in many towns and villages after the 2008 recession. Post offices, schools, Garda stations and businesses have closed, services have been stripped and moved to bigger towns and main streets have become derelict. Many of the jobs lost at that time were never replaced and the investment needed to reboot our towns and villages was not forthcoming.

That fact is proven by the European Commission's downgrading of the northern and western region from a developed region to a transition region. This region is regressing. It is falling behind the other regions. That is because when it comes to investment, the west and north west of Ireland have been at the bottom of the table. This region has been at the bottom of the table when it comes to infrastructure, health, third level education and commercial activity. Disposable incomes in this region are far below the national average and those in other regions. These are the enablers that will improve people's standards of living. That must be addressed. The Minister has outlined the many available funding streams, which do make a difference. However, we need far more investment to bring the west and north west back to the status of a developed region. We have a regions problem. The European Commission has told the Government as much. Furthermore, a recent study on the EU's lagging regions, commissioned by the European Parliament, has found that the west and Border region should be reclassified as a lagging region because of its extremely low growth, which diverges from the rest of the State. That is quite alarming and it must be addressed.

I have said this to the Minister before and I will say it again. Sustained positive discrimination is needed to address the inequality that is growing year after year and leaving the western region behind. I commend the Northern and Western Regional Assembly which has brought forward a comprehensive plan to take advantage of the fact that the northern and western region will now qualify for European co-financing rates of 60% for the period from 2021 to 2027. That means the EU will contribute €60 for every €100 invested by the Government in that period. We must grasp that opportunity to tackle this widening inequality.

We have yet to see the new rural development action plan. This was due to run from 2020 after the last one finished in 2019. This year, 2020, is nearly over. I really do not like the phrase "near future" because it really does not narrow things down. We need to see that plan. I have spoken to the Minister about one of the main objectives of the previous plan, namely, to support enterprise growth and job creation in rural areas. The key target of that action plan was to increase the number of people in employment. I know from a recent reply to a parliamentary question that, between 2015 and 2019, employment in the regions increased by 222,400 outside of Dublin.

As I said, that is welcome. Job creation is always welcome but the Minister could not provide a regional breakdown in that regard. This needs to be rectified in the next action plan. We need to see targeted job creation and to see the results of it because "outside of Dublin" leaves 25 counties in the South in respect of which we do not know where job creation is happening. I ask that in the new action plan we see far better targeted job creation and the results to show us where we are at come the end of that plan. If we are to develop and sustain our rural communities, we need jobs. One positive that we can take from Covid is the increased number of people who have been able to work remotely over the last few months. That is really positive. It is another opportunity for rural towns and villages that we have to grasp. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-imagine how we work and it will be of huge benefit to workers, their families and their local economies. The regional assemblies of Ireland recently published a report which shows that one in four private sector workers could be targeted for remote working. In the west and north-west alone, there are 40,000 such workers. This means 40,000 fewer people commuting and at home in their communities spending in their local economies. This number is much higher when the public sector personnel that are working remotely are added. Remote working hubs and co-working spaces can transform rural Ireland. The Minister referenced the interdepartmental group that has been established. I hope there is a speedy timeline for it to report to the Minister. I welcome that work is under way. It will be extremely positive for us, for our generation and generations to come.

I also want to make reference to broadband and the commitment in the programme for Government to accelerate the roll-out of broadband in rural areas. How is that going to be achieved? It would be helpful to see a plan on how that acceleration will happen. We all know that there are many homes and businesses that continue to have major difficulties when it comes to broadband. We have seen these difficulties most recently in the context of marts having to operate online because of Covid restrictions. This has created problems for marts and for buyers. This is really worrying at a time when farmers' income is already on the floor for many. We also saw it back in March in the context of the only option for children being to go online to learn. I would welcome more clarity in regard to the acceleration of broadband provision and how that is going to come about.

There are two other issues I want to mention briefly. These are issues that affect people living in rural Ireland that are constant and have not been addressed but can be addressed. The first issue is school transport. I appreciate this does not come directly within the remit of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, but in the context of the whole-of-government approach about which she spoke earlier we need to look at this annual problem. The problem has been further increased this year because of Covid but it exists year-on-year. The Department of Education needs to work with the Department of Transport to reform school transport for children. I am still being contacted by parents in my constituency who have not been able to secure places on buses for their children. In areas where LocalLink operates consideration should be given to it being allowed to transport children to school to and from housing states in the morning and the evening. This proposal was raised with me at my local family resource centre. This would be of benefit to children when it comes to their attendance at school. In areas where a LocalLink service is operating this idea should be examined.

The other issue is illegal dumping, which is an issue all of us here hear about all of the time. It is a blight on our rural towns and villages. Again, this is an issue that has not been resolved. The issues arising in the different areas vary greatly but the fines are not working. I think the current fine is €150. Addressing this issue requires a whole-of-government approach with various Departments. We also need to engage with local litter wardens on how we can resolve this problem. It is a real shame. It causes a great deal of frustration for people living in rural areas when they see it constantly.

It is disappointing that "the Islands" has been dropped from the Department's title. We have an awful lot of work to do. As somebody who does not come from an island off the coast of Ireland I am mindful of the serious engagement we need to have with people who call the islands home. I hope that we can do much of that work through the line committee. It is important when speaking about balanced recovery and east and west that we remember the people on the islands and the need to sustain their livelihoods there as well. I know that is something the Minister will appreciate.

We should remember that there are many positives even though we are in the midst of Covid. I read in an article in The Irish Times at the weekend that in my home town of Ballaghaderreen five new businesses have opened or are about to open. That is positive. As we approach Christmas, it is important that we remember businesses across the country in our rural towns and villages. We need to support them through Covid to make sure that we can rebuild after Covid and going forward. We need to make sure that the mistakes of the 2008 recession are not repeated. This means taking full advantage of the EU regional funding for the west and the north, taking full advantage of remote working opportunities, tackling those issues that are ongoing around school transport and illegal dumping. There are other issues. So many people want to live in rural communities. Many of our emigrants are coming home to live and work in rural communities. We need to do everything possible to make sure there are opportunities in our rural towns and villages to allow that to happen.

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