Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House to debate this very important topic. I was among the first of many Senators who looked for this debate and have been looking for it for quite some time. I am impressed by the passion of Senator McDonald for the rural area, something I could hear in her speech. I have a similar passion.

We must acknowledge the value and contribution people in rural areas and communities have made to date. These have sustained them to the modern era and against the many pressures that have tried to batter down rural life. Such people depended greatly on the many institutions in rural areas with which we are familiar, such as the school, the church, the post office and the Garda station. The farming co-operatives also played a major role in rural Ireland, as did the various community groups that have been mentioned, such as the GAA, the ICA, the IFA and Macra na Feirme. Muintir na Tíre, a very valued group that is not heard of so much now, did enormous work in rural areas throughout the country. There were also the business people, the small shopkeepers, the publicans and those who contributed in a considerable way to developing community facilities many years ago. With very little help some of these have managed to sustain rural communities to date.

I am saddened to see — and Senator McDonald was right about this — that rural areas are suffering in a very quiet way. A silent population exists that does not protest too much. There is isolation in rural areas. I have finished a series of meetings around my constituency in Waterford during which I met many rural people who complained quietly, without getting up on a soapbox, about the lack of community resources and gardaí in their areas. The local pub might have closed or the local shop. There is a real fear that rural Ireland is becoming disconnected.

I believe the Minister also has a real passion about rural Ireland but he has a lot to do to convince some of his colleagues. I am a bit bemused to hear the Green Senator talk about rural proofing. That is a new buzzword to me. The rural proofing needed is support for rural areas and the people who live in them. That to me is rural proofing and the buzzwords can be forgotten.

At one time in rural areas the local garda was well-known to almost everyone in the community. I now know rural areas that are being policed from almost 30 miles away. Gardaí come and go at times that may be opportune. I say this in a public forum. They come when there is a bit of a gathering, perhaps an event in the local pub. They come for a bit of publicity, perhaps, and to be seen around the area. Where are they when they are really needed, when robberies are taking place in these rural areas? The local garda is not there and is not known. That is a fact of life and I am sure the Minister will agree with me. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has a role in this.

I do not agree with what Senator Quinn said. Regarding Garda service in rural areas he stated that it is a question of efficiency and that we will manage to get on with it. The Garda Síochána plays an important role in the protection of our society and in the delivery of a service to our citizens, no matter where they live. I do not agree with Senator Quinn's views regarding efficiency in Garda services. I am sure the same principle could be applied to post offices. There is a social need to have these services in rural areas and if we do not have them, rural Ireland will die. There is no doubt about that.

On the broad issue of isolation, connectivity is very important. I acknowledge the role of the rural transport initiatives that have been carried out in various counties and constituencies which have supported a degree of connectivity. Senator de Búrca mentioned broadband and I became irate because I know, as do other Senators, that the broadband scheme and grant aid have been cut by the present Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I know he has funded the very good greener home scheme but he has taken the money from the broadband scheme. That is a fact. There are vast areas of this country that do not have any broadband coverage, good, bad or indifferent. Without wireless, Eircom or any other type of broadband, they suffer and are at a major disadvantage. As supporters of rural areas, it does not reflect well on us if we do not highlight this fact. That is why I am so vociferous on the matter.

I agree with Senator McDonald on support for basic infrastructure such as water and sewerage for villages and towns. I urge one caution on the Senator. We have a scheme in County Waterford where seven villages are grouped together but it has been a bureaucratic nightmare to get it through the various Departments. We have been waiting three or four years for an offshore licence for some villages. Some are ready to go but cannot until the others catch up. There is a difficulty there. That is certainly an efficiency which the Minister might introduce into the Departments to help these villages.

I agree with previous speakers about rural enterprises and diversification. Considerable experience is available over past generations regarding agriculture. There is diversification into agri-related businesses, whether food produce, horticulture, or equestrian. Other speakers mentioned tourism and heritage. I recently visited the award-winning Sliabh gCua family farm guesthouse in County Waterford that attracts tourists from all over the world. Those people are selling a product that perhaps not many of our own people are aware of but they have guests from Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia as regular visitors. They do a marvellous job in promoting our country and its rural areas. We must see more of this type of business. I acknowledge the role of Leader in supporting these small enterprises in rural areas.

I am glad to hear that the Minister will announce the Leader funding in the coming weeks. A fund of €425 million certainly is a large sum and I hope to see it spent well in different areas. When will the groups be expected to have tenders back for the funding? A year has already been lost. The programme was to have run from 2007 to 2013 and it is now mid-2008. Will there be a quick turnaround with regard to the Department approving tenders? Concerning projects that must start urgently, will there be any retrospection with respect of their qualification for Leader funds? We are half way through the year and programmes are literally waiting for Leader funds to get going. There are very worthwhile causes. Given that the programme was supposed to run from 2007 to 2013, will it be extended in any way because of its late start?

We can return to this debate. Those who represent rural areas are fewer in number in both Houses of the Oireachtas and our voices must be heard. The communities and the people we represent depend on us to be heard when we come to Dublin to speak in the Oireachtas. It is not merely the communities and public representatives that have a role to play in sustaining rural areas. There is a need for real political leadership. I believe the Minister has a passion for rural areas and that he wants to see sustainable things happening. He has a job of work to do to convince his colleagues in Cabinet. I hope, now that there is a Taoiseach from a rural background, that the Minister may have his ear and that he may be able to get the funds required and have the proper balanced regional development that has been promised in different programmes for Government. That is what rural Ireland needs. It is a vast area outside the Pale that needs the attention of politicians from all sides.