Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An tAire Stáit and I both know the very real impact business closures are having across Galway. This is an issue we see in our cities, our towns and our more rural and isolated areas. In any local town, you will see the coffee shop, the butcher, the local grocery shop, the bars, the restaurants and the hotels. Any one of these closing can have an impact on the area. If we ignore the fact that these businesses are struggling and that businesses are telling us that they are going to have to close their doors, we do so at our own peril because of the impact these businesses have on their local communities, the vibrancy they bring to them and the job opportunities they create and because the amount of money in circulation increases when people are employed in the local area. One business owner in the Connemara area, a very rural area, contacted me to say that they are extremely concerned that they will not be able to keep the doors open until the summer. That is the kind of impact we will see if we do not take this crisis seriously at this very moment in time.

Inné, phléigh muid an méid atá ag tarlú sa nGaeltacht maidir le cúrsaí pleanála. Dar liomsa, baineann sé seo ar fad le buninfreastruchtúr nó bunseirbhísí na Gaeltachta. Muna bhfuil daoine in ann teach a thógáil, a fháil ar cíos nó a cheannach, ní bheidh siad in ann fanacht sa nGaeltacht. Ar an taobh eile den scéal, muna bhfuil gnólachtaí agus an cineál seirbhísí sin sa gceantar agus muna bhfuil caiféanna, bialanna agus tithe tábhairne in ann fanacht ar oscailt, ciallaíonn sé sin nach bhfuil na bunseirbhísí sin ann. Dúirt gnólacht áirithe liom go bhfuil siad an-bhuartha nach mbeidh siad in ann fanacht ar oscailt go dtí an samhradh toisc go bhfuil siad ag streachailt an oiread sin. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go n-éistfidh an Rialtas leis na comhlachtaí sin mar beidh sé fíordhona dá mbeadh orthu dúnadh.

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