Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Listening to Government representatives over the course of this debate, I am minded to think that there are some who believe that delivering for rural Ireland is about photo shoots and glossy brochures, none more glossy than the Our Rural Future document itself. I recall when it was launched to much fanfare that it was described by Government as the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in decades. It has become the most ambitious and transformative PR opportunity for Government in many years. Quite a number of the aspirations within the Our Rural Future document are indeed worthy but the delivery is far too slow and not meaningful enough for rural areas that desperately need the type of investment that has been denied for far too long. In fact, Our Rural Future has become symbolic of photo shoots and photo calls on the part of Ministers. I come from the constituency of the senior Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who I am sure is a very hard working Minister. On many occasions, as an Opposition Deputy, I simply do not have the time to accept all the invitations extended to me as an Oireachtas Member. In once instance where I was able to attend, I attended the official opening of a car park. There have been many other smaller measures that are all very worthy and very important but did not require an entire troop of elected representatives to stand there and fight to get into the frame of the photo.

What is required are initiatives and measures to ensure that the people from those rural communities can stay, live, work and raise their own families. That requires real investment and tangible delivery on the measures that have been ignored by Government. In the context of healthcare and education, particularly for children with special needs, in my county there is not a single respite bed for children with disabilities. I am dealing with some heartbreaking situations. There is never a mention in this House from Government of issues like that. There is no special school. In some parts of my county it is virtually impossible to get an appointment with a GP. All of that arises from a decision that was made by a Fianna Fáil Government initially and subsequently by a Fine Gael Government to remove services from our local hospital. Opposition Deputies are now having to battle with the HSE on a weekly basis to restore services, extend the hours of a minor injuries unit at the hospital, and to try to battle on behalf of families we are representing.

There is much talk today from Government representatives about the regional balance of IDA Ireland investment. Across the State there are 301,475 people employed in IDA supported jobs. Every single one of them is welcome in the community they are located in. Does the Minister of State know how many of them are located in County Monaghan? Only 428, a minuscule proportion in terms of economic development. I come from a county that has no rail network and virtually no public transport service. People have to use private cars to drive to work, drive their children to school or do any of the daily things that are taken for granted in some parts of the country in terms of bus and rail services. The Government's response is to make that more expensive and more difficult. The state of our local roads in some instances is a travesty.

We are talking about economic development and what counties like Monaghan need is connectivity. Our Rural Future, the national development plan and countless other major Government strategies and launches outline the N2 and A5 road network from Letterkenny and Derry through County Monaghan to Dublin as crucial, central and pivotal infrastructure. What has this Government done? I refer particularly to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, but apparently his Cabinet colleagues are sitting on their hands.

They have stalled the two road projects. I have no difficulty with Ministers attending photocalls and photoshoots. Any elected representatives who have the time to attend, let them at it. In regard to those smaller local projects, as important as they are, none of that will cover for the fact that this Government is failing miserably to deliver the type of infrastructure and investment so desperately required for counties such as Monaghan.

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