Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thought it appropriate to begin with a quote from the Government's website with regard to Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025. It states:

While the term "rural Ireland" is widely used, there are many different perceptions of what "rural Ireland" means. The fact is that rural areas are not identical and every town, village and parish differs considerably in terms of its individual strengths, needs and possibilities.

That is correct. The experiences of somebody living, for example, in an estate in Tralee, a house in Kenmare or a house around the Ring of Kerry can be very different. There are many things that unite them, however, and that is the feeling of being left behind, poor access to healthcare and the labour market, particularly dental services and GP services, and an increasing disenfranchisement and dissatisfaction with the Government. If we look at some of the LEADER funding, which is the bedrock that massively supports rural communities in rural social schemes and community employment, CE, schemes, between 2014 and 2020, there was €10.2 million, which is around €1.7 million per year, yet for 2023 to 2027, it is €8.1 million, which works out at approximately €1.6 million. Factor in inflation and it is a decrease for those essential services.

The strategy promises much in areas with priorities including optimising digital connectivity, supporting employment and careers in rural areas, revitalising towns and villages, enhancing participation, leadership and resilience and supporting carbon neutrality. However, are the rural communities going to see much of a return in these areas? Rural broadband connectivity, for example, in County Kerry is still very patchy. Many areas do not have a clear timeline for when they will be connected. Given that working from home requires good service and provision for this is uncertain, many of those who would like to move back home to their county are unable to do so. It is hard to detect much progress in the attempt at revitalising towns and villages. Dereliction of commercial units is still very high in Tralee town. A number of retail units are still closing and there are little signs of recovery. Public bodies and county councils need to step up to the plate. In the programme for Government, for example, we have the Town Centre First plan, but when the council talks about a new building, it is extending that building at the edge of town rather than pushing services into the town centres and getting people working there. All the surveys about dereliction that were taken in England, for example, have shown that to revitalise town centres, we need to have people living there and, more importantly, people working there.

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