Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I thank the Leader and our spokesperson, Senator Ó Murchú, for making the necessary arrangements. I also thank the Minister for being present.

The Government's commitment to rural areas is clear and is underscored by the creation of the Minister's Department last year. The CLÁR programme also emphasised our commitment to rural development. The issue of rural development is critical to our country. As the Minister said in February, working in the area of rural development can be frustrating, although the rewards can be incredible.

The proportion of the population of areas outside the five main cities fell to approximately 40%, or 1.5 million people, in 2000. The population decline in rural areas is a massive challenge to all of us. Those of us who are members of local authorities have tried, through our county development plans, to address the concept of rural housing. In doing so, we have been conscious of the difficulty in terms of the decline in population as it affects the GAA teams. We have a situation where a number of clubs have to come together to form a team and where schools, post offices, churches and Garda barracks have closed. These are all signs of a declining rural population.

In the case of the area I represent, north Westmeath, and, in particular, the Finnea area, the decline in recent years has been evident in the context of the numbers attending the school, the local GAA club and so on. The attitude of certain entities at national level vis-à-vis An Taisce and the difficulties that obtain in respect of the concept of rural housing has not counteracted rural decline, rather it has contributed to it in a major way. Those who know absolutely nothing about local democracy tell us what we should do in the context of rural development. Some proactive measures have been taken and we welcome them. One such measure is the national spatial strategy which will seek to revitalise and regenerate rural areas. It will also provide an impetus for new sustainable development and job prospects for those living there.