Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to working with the Minister of State on that. However, to create jobs in rural Ireland, we must focus on the seriousness of the situation regarding the collapse of the fishing industry and what looks like the future collapse of the farming industry in this country. We need to look at issues like the provision of broadband in rural areas. Broadband has not come to rural areas such as west Cork. It was promised, five years, six years, seven years ahead. I looked at the local newspaper, theSouthern Star, last week. Johnny Crowley's pub in Inishannon wants to open up a local hub, obviously to keep the pub business going, but also to provide a service to the local community. There is no broadband in Inishannon, which is just down from Cork city. That tells you how many light years we are from reality. I spoke to the Tánaiste this morning about roads in west Cork. There is no vision for the development of roads in west Cork. To create employment in west Cork, there needs to be a proper roads structure. We have a failing roads structure. Neither the southern or northern relief roads or the Inishannon or Bantry bypasses have been included in plans going forward for this year. The provision of public transport is at an all-time low. We need change if we want to create good jobs for west Cork and to put it on the same level playing field as every other constituency in this country.

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