Dáil debates
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions
Rural Development Policy
10:55 am
Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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31. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the measures being undertaken by his Department to address persistent depopulation in rural towns across County Donegal and the rest of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8823/18]
Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I would like the Minister to outline what has been done for rural areas in terms of national development. Last week, GeoDirectory published statistics on commercial activity across the country. Ballybofey, County Donegal, had the highest rate of commercial inactivity, at 28.8%. Commercial vacancy has been a consistent feature in Donegal, primarily due to ongoing and persistent depopulation in rural towns. What is being done to tackle rural depopulation in the county and throughout the country?
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question.
The Government has made clear its support for rural areas in Project Ireland 2040, which was launched last week. The overarching objective of the national planning framework, which is one of the strands of Project Ireland, is to ensure the population growth and economic growth that will take place up to 2040 will be shared more evenly across the regions.
The national planning framework specifically commits to maintaining Ireland’s rural fabric and to reversing town, village and rural population decline. It also highlights the continued potential of the traditional pillars of the rural economy in supporting job creation in areas such as tourism and agriculture as well as the opportunities that will arise through new technologies and investment.
Under the national development plan, the Government has committed to establishing a new rural regeneration and development fund, which will provide an additional €1 billion over the next ten years to support rural renewal and reduce population decline in rural towns and villages. Other funding streams in the national development plan, across sectors such as transport, tourism, energy and communications, will also support rural towns and villages.
My Department will continue to deliver schemes such as the town and village renewal scheme, Leader and the CLÁR programme. CLÁR is a targeted capital investment programme for rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation. Over the past two years, over €1.1 million has been allocated to County Donegal under the CLÁR programme.
Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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The reference to an allocation of €1.1 million for County Donegal over the past two years says it all.
In the space of six years, since Fine Gael was elected in 2011, Donegal has experienced the highest rate of population decline in the country, at -1.5%, while every other county bar Sligo and Mayo experienced a population increase. The Minister's county, therefore, experienced a population decrease. This is because the Government has not offered any support to rural areas to address rural population decline.
Rural population decline is both a symptom and cause of the retreat of rural services, including post offices, Garda stations and general practitioners, and most recently the retreat of private sector services, which has left towns such as Ardara with no banking facilities at all. This is all under the Minister's watch.
The root cause of rural population decline is Government policy prioritising urban areas to the detriment of rural towns, privatising essential networks, such as the post office network, and centralising front-line services, such as the Garda force.
What will the Minister do to ensure that these services will be retained in rural areas and that they will remain vibrant? I refer to towns such as Ballybofey and Ardagh, which are not small or rural in nature but which need to be protected to ensure that they can grow.
11:05 am
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy referred to funding for Donegal, which received the third highest amount of funding from my Department in 2017. That was over €8.6 million more than my county received. The local improvement scheme, LIS, was allocated €3.3 million, CLÁR was allocated €589,000 and the town and village renewal scheme was allocated €1.15 million. These are the programmes we are trying to put in place to create employment and to keep people living and working in rural Ireland. In many counties, including Donegal, funding was provided for digital and food hubs, both of which are responsible for creating jobs. I want to continue that. Unemployment in Donegal fell by 6,000 between 2011 and 2016. I note from recent statistics that the number of children aged under 15 years increased during that period. Donegal has a very bright future.
The county council, the county manager and councillors in Donegal have worked very hard in recent years. They have taken on the tourism aspect of promoting the county. There is no doubt they have bought into that. Many jobs are being created in Donegal. The Wild Atlantic Way gave the county the best lift it ever got. The county manager and elected representatives will tell the Deputy that.
Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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The Minister is wrong. The unemployment level has not fallen by 6,000; it actually fell by 9,300 over the past five years. The Minister should boost his figures, but perhaps he does not want to do that because, while unemployment has fallen by 9,300, the number of jobs created only increased by 2,000. Some 7,000 people have left the county and that is why unemployment has fallen. People have gone to Dublin, London, New York and Australia. The Minister should be careful with the figures he has announced. Population figures have fallen because of emigration rather than on foot of anything he - or the Government - has done. That is the problem we have in Donegal.
I carried out a business survey of small towns across Donegal in recent weeks. There was a great response from a wide range of businesses in Ardagh, Donegal town, Ballybofey and other places. They have a sense that no help is being accorded to them in terms of keeping services going. They have identified the withdrawal of services as being the key factor and referred to the post offices, banks and Garda stations that have been closed. The Minister has to reverse that trend, which is the only way he can protect those towns.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Pringle sees the glass as half empty but I see it as half full. He does not like the facts. The Government has put substantial funding into Donegal and has tried to create jobs and keep people living in Donegal. I provided figures for some of the schemes for which I have responsibility. Many other Ministers have responsibility for other schemes.
Donegal has a very bright future. Every town and village went through a major recession, but Donegal is coming out of it. Donegal needs people like Deputy Pringle to talk it up rather than talk it down. There are many fine and articulate people living and working in Donegal. Deputy Pringle can use statistics his way and I can use them my way. Donegal has a bright future and is doing very well. As long as I am here, it will get its fair share of the national cake.