Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Crowe. I join with him in acknowledging the good work of Councillor Murphy and others in Kilkee. I agree with his point that one of the fall-outs from Covid has been that it has opened up opportunities for rural towns and villages throughout Ireland because remote working is here to stay to some extent. We will see a blended form of working in future. This means more people spending more time in their local communities. This will enrich these communities and allow people to spend more of their money locally, volunteer their time and become more active in community life. If we look at the national development plan and the overall Project Ireland 2040, the target is that 75% of the growth in population of Ireland to 2040 will be outside Dublin. This underlines the level of opportunity and ambition there is for rural communities. Time does not allow me to go into individual projects. Perhaps we can engage on a bilateral basis. I will seek to get whatever information I can on timelines for individual projects. I thank the Deputy for raising them.

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