James Bannon (Fine Gael)

We will leave the rabbit and the Senator to Tang.

On his recent visit to County Longford the Minister of State inspected some of those sites and saw that they were suitable for agencies and offices of Departments. As Senators know, Longford is a central location and suitable for an office of a major Department. By far the single largest issue remains job creation, with the workforce increasing and high unemployment. The country exhibits clear signs of bleeding vital resources with high emigration in general and loss of graduates and, in particular, loss of service and capital and a communications system which pulls everything towards Dublin.

A huge number of rural schools are at risk from population decline. One need only look at the recent census of population relating to County Longford, where the total population is falling with migration rates among the highest in the country. Declining populations are threatening our secondary schools, resulting in possible amalgamation in some towns. There is a disturbingly high level of long-term unemployment and the loss of graduates from the region as a result of the lack of job opportunities.

It is a fact of life that initiatives and strategies come and go but the bottom line is that we are still in a situation where one part of the country is overcrowded and over-resourced, while the rest is under-populated and starved of essential infrastructure, development and services. I call on the Minister of State to end this uncertainty with regard to decentralisation and place before this House a coherent and workable blueprint for its implementation. I expected more from him. I expected action rather than more empty promises and would appreciate if he came clean and gave the people a clear indication of what he plans to do with decentralisation. It looks like this will be a long-paying record which will run until the next general election, which I presume will be held sooner than four years – perhaps even within 12 months – given how the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil are carrying on. We will have an opportunity to witness that this evening when the vote is called in the debate on third level fees.