Eamon Scanlon (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, to the House. I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the Appropriation Act. However, before I do so, I wish to respond to some of the comments made by Senator Ulick Burke.

I attended the accident and emergency unit in Sligo General Hospital on the Saturday before Christmas with my brother who had fractured his ankle. Saturday morning is a busy morning in accident and emergency units everywhere. We went there at 11 a.m. and my brother was seen by a doctor within 45 minutes. He had an X-ray and we were on the way home at 1.30 p.m. I have attended the accident and emergency unit in Sligo General Hospital with my family, sometimes late at night because of cases which were of a serious nature. The treatment and service we received was second to none. The facts can be checked if anybody wishes to do so. I can only speak of my own hospital; I do not know what is going on in the accident and emergency unit of Galway University Hospital.

As a politician and a regular visitor to hospitals in my area I meet people receiving hospital treatment. I usually ask them how they are being treated and if they are happy with the services they receive. In general people are happy and satisfied with the service they receive. I accept there may be problems in certain areas, but there is no problem in Sligo General Hospital.

Senator Ulick Burke also referred to the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív. I commend him on the introduction of the CLÁR and RAPID programmes. The CLÁR programme was introduced in areas that suffered severe depopulation in the past 30 or 40 years. Specific funding was targeted at RAPID areas that were affected by serious social problems. My area has benefited from funding under the CLÁR programme. People living on boreens and local community centres have felt the benefits of the matched funding provided by the CLÁR programme which has helped these areas to thrive and expand.

I welcome the Minister's budget announcement that he has decided to review all tax break schemes. I accept that some schemes have probably gone past their sell-by date. The urban renewal schemes have proved to be of enormous benefit in Dublin, Cork, Sligo and other places. My experience is mostly of Sligo. The centre of Sligo town was in total dereliction. It was an embarrassment. It is wonderful to see the difference that scheme has made to the town, especially between the three bridges along the Garavogue River. The tax break has been of great benefit to this area. The rural renewal scheme has been a fantastic success in south Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon. One need only drive through Carrick-on-Shannon to see the difference it has made and the benefits which have accrued to the area, of which the Acting Chairman, Senator Mooney, is aware, being from Leitrim.

There is no question that Roscommon has thrived and the benefits to south Sligo are plain to be seen. The area I know best, Ballymote, is a small rural town in which I do not think a single house was built for 20 years until seven or eight years ago. The number of businesses which improved the standard of their premises in the past four or five years has made a tremendous difference to the town with the result that there is not one derelict site in the town.

In the past five years, 200 new homes have been built as a result of the rural renewal tax incentive scheme. Under the scheme, another 100 houses are under construction and a further 150 are at planning stage with a view to their being built, I hope, in the next two or three years. The effect of the rural renewal scheme is reflected across south Sligo and into Roscommon and Leitrim.

Some 150 planning applications were made to Sligo County Council in November 2004, while in December 2004 the figure was 400. This is significant when one considers that the normal number of applications to Sligo County Council in a year does not exceed 1,000, yet some 550 came before the council in the last two months of 2004. The reason for this is that applications for the rural renewal scheme needed to be submitted by 31 December 2004, after which one has until 30 June 2006 to complete the project. Massive amounts of development are due to take place but there is no way in the world that it will be finished by 30 June 2006.

In that context, while the review of tax breaks and incentive schemes is welcome as some schemes have passed their sell-by date, it is important that when the review examines the rural renewal scheme the economic development of the eligible areas continues. While I do not request an extension of the scheme itself, I request an extension of the deadline for the projects to be completed because of the amount of employment it has generated. For example, blocklayers, bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters and builders providers have all benefited to a phenomenal extent and many young people are employed in the building industry.

The scheme should be examined favourably during the proposed review and the timescale for the completion of the developments should be extended, even if just for one year. Specifically, I am aware of a number of schemes of 40 or 50 houses at planning stage at present which will, I have no doubt, be granted but it may be May or June of this year before they are commenced and there is no way they will be finished by the end of June 2006. I ask that the Minister of State look favourably on such an extension.

The price of a three bedroom, semi-detached house in my area is €155,000. In the early stages of the rural renewal scheme a number of investors came on board but I have noticed in the past year or so that most of the people buying in my area are young couples starting out. They are probably moving from Sligo town into the rural areas because of the price difference, which is good for those areas and will help to keep them thriving into the next 20 or 30 years.