Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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27. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when a co-ordinating unit to work with communities to develop co-operative structures to keep vital local services in place and to retain and develop vibrant local enterprises will be established, as promised in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37032/16]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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In the context of the significant challenges facing rural Ireland and the need to protect and promote the provision of services in rural Ireland; in the context of the recent report on broadband coverage which illustrated the urgent necessity to provide broadband infrastructure and coverage to sustain and develop rural areas such as Legan, Carrickboy and Keenagh in County Longford, and Ballynacarrigy, Milltown, Ballymore and Streamstown, County Westmeath; and to develop and sustain our post office network, what steps are being taken at Government level to give a positive signal to rural dwellers that they are not being forgotten about?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I did not catch all the names of those towns. Maybe the Deputy could say them to me again.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I most certainly will.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A dedicated co-ordination unit has been established within my Department and is currently working on finalising an action plan for rural development, which will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives across Government and which will benefit all of rural Ireland. The implementation of these initiatives will contribute significantly to the protection and enhancement of local services and help generate increased economic activity in rural areas.

The objective of the action plan is to bring a joined-up approach to the implementation of policies that affect rural communities. We will work right across Government to ensure that the actions included in the plan improve both the social and economic fabric of rural Ireland. I will publish the action plan before the end of the year.

I have already started to put practical schemes in place to help local communities through the roll-out of a suite of initiatives, such as the town and village renewal scheme, the expansion of the REDZ initiative and the reintroduction of the CLÁR programme. My Department is also working directly on proposals for the renewal of the post office network as well as measures to facilitate the roll-out of high-speed broadband in rural areas once Government contracts are awarded next year under the national broadband plan.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. I listened carefully to Pat McDonagh, chief executive of Supermac's, this morning. He spoke glowingly about the 700 jobs coming out of Dublin but said at the same time that 700 jobs will probably be lost across rural Ireland. In that context, is it not fair to say that specific tax incentives to help young entrepreneurs and innovators to get off the ground are extremely important, that measures such as rates abatements for industry getting off the ground are important and that the full tranche of recommendations of the Spillane report should be implemented? I see the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, here. Can the Minister give me any indication as to the status of the post office hub working group the Minister of State chairs? I have no doubt about the lack of speed, but are we close to getting any recommendations from that source?

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Tóibin indicated. Does he want to make a brief comment?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I want to contribute to this question because a couple of major trends are happening at the moment. The first is Brexit, which, with the change in the value of sterling, is pushing many more people north of the Border to make purchases. It is also making online sterling purchases far more competitive. In this State, about 35% of purchases have moved online, which means that retail is under fierce pressure in this State. Of all online purchases, 70% of the money goes out of the country. Last year, €8 billion was spent online in this State. For years there was a problem with grants to retail because it was felt that if one gives a grant to a retailer, it displaces another retailer up the street. However, the truth of the matter is that, between people travelling and e-commerce, this is not necessarily the case. These people are in competition-----

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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-----with online and international retailers. Will the Minister consider a project which would put retailers nationally online via e-commerce? There is a system of e-vouchers but it is far too small and not comprehensive enough. A project needs to be rolled out by the local enterprise offices, LEOs, which would put towns online in their entirety.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Unemployment is down again today. The figures show that it is at its lowest in eight years, at 7.3%. Like Deputy Penrose, and as a rural Deputy, I want to see jobs in rural Ireland. Jobs are being created in rural Ireland, and we want to see more.

Regarding broadband, as the Deputy knows, the national broadband plan is being rolled out. The plan falls under the remit of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten. My job is to work with local authorities and get them "broadband ready" so that when the national broadband plan is rolled out they will be able to allow a seamless roll-out in every single county and there will not be barriers or issues around planning, levies and all sorts of matters that can slow things down. It is important that when the national broadband contract is signed, it can go ahead as quickly as possible. I believe that broadband will be a game-changer for rural Ireland.

Deputy Tóibín is absolutely right about retailers nationally. I have been meeting the local authorities and have asked them to work with the LEOs to educate retailers on establishing an online presence because Google is the first place one goes when one wants to buy something. It is therefore important that local retailers have an online presence. If one can buy something locally, the chances are one will do so. However, one needs first to see that it can be bought locally, and the only place people now look - I know we all do it - is Google. We Google everything, so an online presence is important. This is something on which I want to work with all involved.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Our time allocation is almost gone, but it is only fair I let Deputy Penrose contribute a final brief comment.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The provision of the post office network is especially important in communities right throughout the country. More services, particularly at Government, State and semi-State level, should be provided. The Minister of State, Deputy English, is chairing the post office working group. When it is likely that models which could act as economic deliverers of social activity in the community, especially in rural areas, will be available?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy knows, the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, has established the post office hub working group to identify potential models under which the post office could act as community hubs, especially in rural areas. This group has identified three potential options around the hub concept, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, expects to be in a position to report back to Government on the work of this group during December, in the next number of weeks. There is another report, namely, the Bobby Kerr report, on the network renewal implementation group. That report will also be to hand shortly.