Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While acknowledging that, the Government should also acknowledge that rural communities face increases in costs and a fairly patchy, unintegrated rural network that is not accessible or a flexible. It is important to develop initiatives and resource areas that are further from the major urban areas and improve and expand public services in remote rural areas. The additional money required to achieve the minimum essential standard of living ranges from an estimated €142 a week for rural couples with younger children to €197 per week for rural couples with children at primary and second level age.

According to the latest MESL figures from the Vincentian research centre, higher costs relate to household energy, transport and fuel, and these costs have increased significantly. I ask again if the Minister of State would consider this and look at the increased costs for people in rural areas.

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