Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The continuing loss of young people from rural areas like Offaly is deeply worrying. The truth is that we are educating our children to live elsewhere. We equip them with the skills, ambition and drive but the jobs, housing and services they need to build a future in the locality are not in place.

This trend is affecting everything - from school enrolments to local businesses and the fabric of rural community life. The longer it continues, the harder it becomes to reverse. There is no silver bullet for this: it demands joined-up thinking and a real commitment across the Government. Will the Minister take the lead in his Department to work with the Departments of housing, education, enterprise and Transport to ensure young people have genuine opportunities to live, work and stay rooted in their communities?

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