Alan Kelly (Labour)

Rural Ireland will not have the products needed to embrace tourism unless cohesion funding is linked to the work being done by Fáilte Ireland. Rural Ireland depends totally on domestic tourism. It is not getting a fair bang from the international buck.

Reference has been made to the Beara walk. There are issues in relation to the co-operation of the county councils. Perhaps the Minister will examine the matter. I do not believe it is succeeding as it could. I ask the Minister to support those of us who are opposing the changes proposed by the EU to the HACCP legislation. The changes will force people working in farmers' markets to have running hot and cold water on tap. If the change is agreed, it will have a detrimental impact on farmers' markets. The Minister might not be aware of this issue. Perhaps he will discuss it with his colleagues. I agree with those who have spoken about rural housing. To date, the Green Party's attitude to broadband services has been a disgrace. Some countries in eastern Europe have a better broadband service than Ireland. We need innovative ways of addressing these problems. Broadband is needed in rural Ireland. The agencies which are trying to attract small and indigenous high-value enterprises are unable to do so in the absence of broadband services.