Alan Kelly (Labour)

I, too, congratulate the Minister on his re-appointment. Like other speakers, I do not doubt the Minister's sincere passion for rural Ireland, which I share. I consider myself an example of rural Ireland at its best. I come from a small farm on the side of a hill in rural Tipperary. I have taken note of the new Taoiseach's change of language since his election. He speaks about communities, rural areas and developing this, that and the other. I do not doubt his sincerity but will he provide the funds to allow his vision become reality? I will try to help the Minister to secure those funds because they are very necessary. However, I believe the Taoiseach is simply trying to move the debate away from an economy that is, unfortunately, on a downward trend.

I wish to bring a number of points to the Minister's attention. We could discuss this subject for hours but I will address just a few areas. I support the rural transport scheme, which is a great initiative. Unfortunately, however, it is not funded to the level that is required. Is the Minister certain that the commitments made in the national development plan will be met? I believe the commitments are totally under-funded. There should be an increase beyond what is promised in the NDP for this initiative. It has been shown in various studies that where it works well, there has been a reduction in depression and loneliness, etc., particularly among elderly people. There has been a decrease in the number of visits to general practitioners for reasons associated with mental illness and depression, etc. The Minister might want to examine a study that was conducted in Macroom. I understand that the former Deputy, Moosajee Bhamjee, has made some helpful statements on this matter.

The Departments of Transport and Health and Children were engaged in discussions about the use of the rural transport initiative to take people in isolated areas to medical appointments. I am talking about bringing people to doctors' surgeries rather than substituting for the ambulance service. I understand that the discussions ended when there was a budgetary dispute. Could they be renewed? If the HSE could get local transport managers to employ rural transport administrators to bring people to doctors' appointments, it would be a huge advance. I do not think petty squabbling about budgets should come into play. We should change the rules of the scheme so that all journeys no longer need to be point-to-point. It should be more flexible and cover one-off journeys. That would be a progressive move because many people want to do day trips, etc.

Other Senators have spoken about the closure of shops, pubs, restaurants, post offices and churches in rural areas. Perhaps the Minister's brief does not extend to doing something about the closure of churches. When the market fails, we should adopt the concept referred to by Senator Quinn earlier. I refer to what is known in economic philosophy as "externality", which happens when the social benefits of a transaction outweigh its economic benefits. We should consider offering an incentive to maintain the last post office, shop or — dare I say it — pub in a locality. Like other Senators, I think we need to see the data underpinning the proposed changes to the drink driving laws. If the data indicate that making a change is the right thing to do, that will be fair enough. Perhaps the Minister will examine whether incentives can be put in place to save the last local business in a particular category in each rural area. The Labour Party made proposals in this regard before the last general election.

As I have said in this House previously, I am an inside trader when it comes to tourism. I left a position with Fáilte Ireland when I was elected to this House. I was present for a number of announcements made by the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, over the years. The figures show that the tourism industry is in decline in the midlands and mid-west areas. We will not be able to do anything about that until the role of Dublin Tourism is addressed. Dublin Tourism, which does a fine job, is very good for Dublin. As Dublin is the main point of access into Ireland, however, it also needs to do a fine job to encourage people to visit the spine of Ireland. That is not being done. I do not believe Dublin Tourism should be outside the remit of Fáilte Ireland as it is at present. Perhaps the Minister will talk to his colleague about this serious issue. Tourism is essential for rural Ireland.

I support the initiatives taken by Mr. John Concannon in respect of the islands. The Minister has been involved in such matters. Mr. Concannon currently works on the promotion of our inland waterways, which is fantastic. The Minister has initiated part of the project. There is no such thing as a product called "rural tourism" — there is merely tourism in rural Ireland.