Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

Over the past 15 years, 24 post offices have closed in County Donegal. This is a stark statistic. I call on the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to intervene because this is the result of depopulation. We all have bases in rural areas and depopulation is a sickness in them. There is a way to address it. The intervention of the Minister could go a long way towards addressing this issue because a two part mechanism is available. Counties such as Donegal could be linked to the broadband grid in Northern Ireland and radio broadband solutions could be provided in rural areas. This has not happened. A seven year plan for rural areas close to gateway towns such as Letterkenny is under discussion. This plan is not good enough and the timeframe involved will not allow for a solution. The Minister should come to the House to debate a connection to the broadband grid in Northern Ireland and to provide radio broadband solutions in rural areas because the closure of post offices will continue and it is our responsibility to do something about it.