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

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. We could have a wide-ranging discussion about rural Ireland and communities outside the large urban centres. We have to look at the possibilities and the achievements that are found within those communities. We must ensure that our agriculture industry thrives and continues to be one of the major driving forces in rural Ireland. We want to make sure that this industry, which is heavily regulated, is encouraged. Whatever the outcome of negotiations across the water or in Europe, our agriculture industry must remain one of the major stakeholders in rural communities.

Yesterday there was a debate at the Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine on the shambles that is the forestry industry. It is a challenge to get any licence application through the Department. Urgency is needed there because that industry accounts for a great deal of employment. Many ambitious ideas concerning afforestation and neighbourwood schemes are coming from rural communities.

Broadband will be one of the great enablers of rural Ireland. I spoke to many people from across my constituency today, people who live in close proximity to large towns and people who live in rural communities. Questions about broadband invariably arose - what type of connection a constituent has, who their service provider is and what is happening with it. In the past few days the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Robert Troy, exposed Eir's customer care, which is an absolute shambles. We hope something will be done about it. Over the years many Ministers have promised that broadband would be rolled out. It is the great enabler and the great leveller. In the past eight or nine months, Covid-19 has shown what generations of politicians have been trying to impress on a State that is unwilling to listen. There are huge possibilities within rural communities. People in various industries, not just the State bodies, are working from home. People in the remotest parts of my constituency are able to communicate with others throughout the globe. I take pride in hearing people say they can conduct their business just as effectively from their own kitchen table. We have to accept that and build on it. That is the how we can build up rural Ireland.

In recent years many people have lived in cities for a time and returned to rural communities to raise families. They do this because they know the positivity and community spirit there. They know the quality of the educational services. That is vitally important. It has been put to the test and shown by Covid-19. Small communities have been very good at looking out for one another. It is vitally important that we build on that.

I wish to raise the plight of stand-alone community centres, as well as those attached to GAA clubs. They have developed in small communities over the years. They offer activities every year to raise funds for insurance, to keep the lights on and to keep the community going. They cannot run them this year. It is vitally important that a scheme is designed to assist organisations that are trying to keep community halls going. The Government must make funding available in 2020 or early 2021 to fill this gap. I have worked with many of these small communities to build up their halls and draw down various funding streams. No activities are taking place now and they therefore have no income. I refer particularly to smaller clubs, groups and voluntary organisations not attached to the main GAA clubs. In normal times they might hold a table quiz to raise €2,000 or €3,000 to meet their running costs. They must be protected.

There has been much discussion of sewerage and water. The group water schemes and group sewerage schemes that operated ten or 15 years ago were great schemes. Grants were available to communities designated under the CLÁR programme. With the advent of Irish Water, those group schemes are no longer available. They would be great enablers of towns and villages. People could come together and draw down funding to extend group sewerage schemes and CLÁR infrastructure. This has been done in many towns and villages in my own area in recent times. This approach should be considered again as a way to tie areas to the main sewers and enable communities to build again. This is vitally important.

Many of the local community development committees, LCDCs, will come to the end of their programme on 31 December. Some of them have committed money to certain projects which will not be completed by the end of the year because of various challenges connected to planning or the construction industry ceasing work for several months because of Covid-19. I ask the Minister to make sure that any funding committed to LCDCs is rolled over into 2021. Perhaps the Minister can clarify that if she contributes again at the end of the debate.

I have spoken to the Minister previously about rural post offices. There is scope to re-examine their role and site digital hubs alongside them. This would be an innovative move. I have submitted a proposal to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and to other Ministers to try to build consensus around it. It is vitally important that the post office is seen as a vital component of the community. We should install digital hubs with desks where people can work. Many people in rural communities would like to separate their work from their homes. They would like an alternative to travelling into cities. This is the opportunity. It should not be missed. The State should back this effort in a very meaningful way.

I would also like to discuss planning, from the national level to the local authority level. We need an incentive to get people into rural communities. Many rural communities are building. People see them as attractive places to rear families. We must not urbanise everything. That is not the way forward. There is scope for rural planning in any of the ideologies we may hold. It is compatible with environmental concerns. It is vitally important that we look at rural planning and encourage as many people as possible to live in rural communities. In the clear, cold light of day, Covid-19 is prompting people to look for the best way to protect themselves and their families. They are looking away from large urban centres towards the real options offered by rural Ireland.

Not only in Ireland but across the globe there is a real and imaginative look at this. The Government and this Parliament should do all they can to make sure that we embrace and diversify into it.

I am Chairman of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. It is important that rural communities are engaged in making sure they are as disability-friendly as possible. Over the decades, various governments, Ministers and organisations have built the great Tidy Towns competition which has led to fantastic achievements. The Government should consider incentivising a competition to bring about an inclusive society programme through which people can embrace disability and communities can be the best they possibly can in regard to disabilities. There is a real opportunity to incentivise stakeholders of all types to come together to develop and support an inclusive society programme led by the Government.

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