Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree. The Deputy is right that the Government formed in 2008 did a lot in very difficult times and with very stretched funding. It prioritised this investment. We need to do likewise in this post-Covid moment, when there is a chance to see a revival of rural Ireland. I accept that. That means we have to fund the new Connecting Ireland rural public transport system, which will be of huge benefit and help people in rural Ireland. That is why we increased the funding for local roads and made sure we maintained the funding for public road maintenance. If we let that go, it costs a lot more to bring it back. That is why the Minister for Rural and Community Development doubled the funding for the local improvement scheme under her budget allocation in 2021, providing an additional €10.5 million up to €21 million in funding. It is not that there is no recognition of the importance of rural connectivity. I refer to those three measures, namely, bus services, public roads and, through the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, local improvement scheme funding.

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