James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

mindful of the neglect of rural Ireland that has taken place under the current Administration and noting;

that the Government has presided over a huge fall in the level of farm incomes — the average farm income has declined dramatically over the last ten years;

that the IFA claimed in 2005 that there are more than 15,000 farm families with incomes of less than €200 per week and that last year, the average farm income was €15,000, while the average industrial wage stood at €30,000;

concerned at the flight from the land, illustrated by the fact that since 1997 the number of young farmers claiming installation aid has fallen by around two thirds, while it is estimated that seven farmers leave the business each day;

noting the Western Development Commission report published in May 2006, which highlighted a 30% underspend in the Border, midlands and west region under the national development plan, while the wealth gap between east and west has also grown since 2002;

Calls on the Government to reverse its laissez-faire approach to rural development and take concerted action to address the planning chaos and severe infrastructure deficit by:

reforming our planning laws to ensure that those who wish to live in rural areas are empowered to do so;

ensuring that planning permissions, when decided upon, take account of the need to attract returned emigrants and encourage people working in a locality to live there;

recognising the urgent need to promote stable and sustainable development patterns; and

at a time of great plenty, targeting investment in rural areas to ensure proper infrastructure exists to attract investment, create jobs and allow rural Ireland to thrive.

I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss this important and topical motion. Listening to Senator Brennan, one would not think the Progressive Democrats Party has been part of the Government for the past ten years. He appeals to and begs the Minister to do this, that and the other. He is probably not aware that his party is part of this Government.

The American broadcaster, John Madden, famously said, "Self praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something." While he could not have known about the weakness of the current Government, he was certainly on the right track. This motion is the desperate death rattle of a dying Government, substituting self-congratulation for lack of positive action over the past nine and a half years. Empty words and empty promises and complete lack of follow-through are the hallmarks of a Government which certainly cannot stand over its record on planning or very little else either.

The basis for this motion is the Progressive Democrats policy document on rural housing, Planning for a Rural Future, which was launched last September. This document follows each point of the motion, word for word. It is therefore difficult to know whether this motion is an attempt at highlighting the contents of a document which is just another verbal whitewash in an ever increasing paper mountain or an attempt to give it credibility. The Progressive Democrats Party has views on planning but its views have never been implemented by Government.

This is the latest promise feast from the junior partner in a Government that has driven farmers off the land and presided over a huge fall in the level of farm incomes. The average farm income has declined dramatically in the past ten years, with the IFA claiming in 2005 that more than 15,000 farm families had incomes of less than €200 per week and that last year, the average farm income was €15,000, while the average industrial wage stood at €30,000.

As we all know, this has led to a flight from the land, illustrated by the fact that since 1997, the number of young farmers claiming installation aid has fallen by around two thirds, while it is estimated that seven farmers leave the business each day. Farmers have been caught in a trap of compulsory building necessitated by the nitrates directive. They have been forced into expensive building projects at unrealistic prices caused by a 30% increase in the price of steel in the past two years. The disastrous handling of the nitrates directive by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government was a final nail in the coffin for many farmers. I acknowledge he backtracked somewhat on what he said in this House last November. He made a few U-turns on the nitrates directive and we all recognise that.

Hard-pressed farmers are once again under threat of being driven out of business by this Government by excessive demands on their resources. Not only has the price of steel risen at an alarming rate in the past two years, since the beginning of this year, the price of concrete has also increased dramatically under the Minister's regime.

According to the Teagasc-NUI report, Rural Ireland 2025, Foresight Perspectives, if the current trends continue, they will result in serious failures to achieve declared policy goals for rural Ireland. On current trends, the following outcomes are likely by 2025 according to the report. There will not be an acceptable regional balance in Ireland's economy, population, commercial agriculture and modern enterprises which will be even more concentrated in the east and south than at present. Rural areas, especially in the north west and north midlands will lag behind in respect of communications and other infrastructure, especially as EU funds will not be available for future development. There will be a dramatic reduction in farmer numbers, lower agricultural prices and widespread decline in commercial farming. Lower volumes of farm output will threaten the viability of agrifood processing enterprises. Forested land area will almost double, however the value of forestry and wood output will not increase to the same extent. The rural landscape with Ireland's rich natural cultural environment will be under continued threat.

New types of employment will not benefit the many rural communities outside of the commuting catchment zones but what could be achieved under a strong effective Government is a completely different picture. If the national spatial strategy was implemented in conjunction with successive regionally focused national plans, the result would be a more balanced distribution of population and economic activity throughout the country. Rapid communications and supporting infrastructure would provide greater accessibility throughout all parts of the country. The rural economy could sustain more competitive enterprises through the development of additional entrepreneurial and management skills as well as further innovation in products, business organisation and marketing.

There is a need for greater commitment to rural and regional development throughout government and a constructive and effective institutional framework to ensure policies respond to the defined needs of the rural economy and rural communities. A change is needed in the prevailing mode of policy making, public administration and policy delivery. Tourism could be a vibrant sector of the rural economy, providing knowledge-based environmental goods and services, focused on Ireland's unique landscape and culture. Forestry and the ocean economy could be sizeable suppliers to the energy sector and provide valued public goods. During the debate on energy last week we said we should look at wave energy, an area on which the Government has done no research whatsoever.

The bottom line for all of this is that these are aspirational concepts that could be realised through the actions of strong Government action. The rhetoric of stated policy needs to be followed through with clear operational programmes, especially in relation to the White Paper on rural Development and the national spatial strategy.

I support the motion's call for the establishment of a national planning monitoring committee, to act as an appeals mechanism to give people who have fallen victim to the Government's mismanagement of the planning process a voice to air their concerns and a structure that will iron out planning inequities once and for all.

In all planning areas, who exactly have been the winners under the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government? Certainly the developers and the concrete industry have been winners, as was highlighted in last week's motion on energy but not first-time buyers, those who wish to live and work in the rural areas associated with their families for generations or returning emigrants desperate to put down roots in their native areas. Government inaction is destroying family life in rural Ireland. Parents are being forced to see their adult children and grandchildren driven into over-priced housing in towns while being denied permission to build on available farmland in their native areas, which would benefit the community by the establishment of a network of extended families. This issue has arisen time and time again but the Government has refused to deal with it.

The Taoiseach promised radical changes to the planning process but nothing has happened. He has lost credibility in this as well as in every other area of trust, which the people have placed in him. The promises he made in Sligo three years ago have not resulted in action. As the election approaches, the Government is chasing its tail and trying to make something out of issues with which it did not deal during the past nine-and-a-half years. The bottom line, however, is that no matter what the spin, the Government has neglected the people of rural Ireland.

It has been left to the county development plans of local authorities to address the issue of rural settlement. Their aim is to strengthen the fabric of existing settlements and development clusters in the country, creating and maintaining vibrant and thriving urban and rural communities. Let us take, for example, County Longford which is a highly rural area, with agriculture having been the primary land use and industry which has sustained its people for generations. However, new economic and social forces have begun to change people's relationship with the land. Agriculture has gone into decline and there is pressure for land in rural areas to be used for non-agricultural purposes. Accordingly, the council has developed objectives with a view to reversing rural decline. Central to that reversal is the need to have firmly in place a planning process that supports the right of those who wish to live in rural areas and empowers them to do so. This has not been the reality under the current Government. One would think the Government was in opposition, given the behaviour of the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil on this issue.