Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I welcome this initiative by the Government. This is my first opportunity to welcome the Minister of State to the House in his current role. As an old compadre, I wish him well.

Most Members come from rural backgrounds. I have a dual concern about the national spatial strategy. The strategy is hugely important because of the fact that we must focus on developing areas. Gateways and other centres are only important as part of a whole. How will the rural part of the Minister of State's county of Donegal and the back end of Kerry fare in this process? People, regardless of where they reside, must be assured that they will have the opportunity to live full lives and make full contributions.

It would be a major error if the debate merely centred around the coldly political aspect of which towns are chosen and which ones are not. That often tends to happen when we approach matters from a bureaucratic point of view. The approach should be on the basis of considering representative examples from different parts of the country and different sections of the community. For example, what are the factors which contribute to the number of hours it takes to travel from Belmullet to Dublin? What improvements are required in roads, broadband technology and other areas of infrastructure to address the disadvantages of more remote areas?

One of the issues to be considered is the implication of moving away from public responsibility for certain matters. Broadband is one such example. In terms of the spatial strategy, if we are to ensure that people can live where they desire and still make a contribution, broadband is an essential facility. Fifteen years ago, there would have been no doubt regarding to how we would deliver broadband. This would have been done through the P&T, as it was then called. Now, however, because of the European agenda, we have agreed to the introduction of competition and in the process we have created a duopoly with a degree of price control as strong as ever.