Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The turnaround, once we advertise this, will be five or six weeks. Let us be realistic. I expect grants will be approved in October. The Leader programme companies have not helped themselves here. Instead of starting from scratch in October, if there is a good idea for a project, preliminary work could be started by interested companies. The operating rules will become available in time. Such companies could proceed in advance of official sanction. The scheme will be open for anybody to apply, but most areas will only have a limited number of applications.

In was only in later years that the previous programme took off. In principle, there should be no gap between the programmes but it happens all over Europe and the problem is not unique to Ireland. We are still one of the fastest out of the traps. I will check the rate of our progress.

Rural proofing has been around for a considerable time. There are many types of proofing these days and I am not a fan of this method. A draft memorandum will contain a section at the end asking whether the document is rural-proofed, gender-proofed poverty-proofed and so on. The answer is already contained in the memorandum. I try to approach the job in a different way and as policies are introduced ensure the job is done in a way that is sustainable for rural Ireland. The theory is fine, but in practice it sometimes becomes just a paper exercise and I have no interest in that.

I accept that the broadband scheme was not a great success. Some two years ago the Government realised that because of barriers in the market, such as those caused by industry regulation and so on, a "big bang" approach was necessary. It took a decision to take this approach. Last April there was an advertisement in the newspapers requesting bidders to provide broadband in the parts of rural Ireland that were not covered. There was an extended mapping exercise to find the relevant areas. By the following autumn there were four preferred bidders. The hope was this process would yield one successful bidder by early this summer. That is the current position. It is like planning for motorways, only when the construction companies start work do people really believe it will happen, even though years of planning have been carried out. We are at the final stage of the tender process. I understand it will take between one year and 18 months to roll out fully. This roll-out will stimulate some of the companies to enter the market in some of the areas in which they have not operated to date. Some companies stood to make losses in certain circumstances because of the option to telephone using the internet.

Regarding theme pubs, night clubs, public houses and so on, there has been growth in the market for rural restaurants, as people eat out more. We should recognise that the decline of the rural pub is not only the result of drink driving legislation. It is also being caused by changes in society such as the prevalence of more comfortable houses, fewer bachelors living alone and many other factors. We must provide solutions that make businesses in rural Ireland sustainable and change the view that there is only the standard pub to be considered. It should also be recognised that people expect more comfort. It is possible to see examples around the country of a local pub closing down to be replaced by a huge hotel with excellent facilities, and the local people using the new hotel. These people want higher standards. It is like comparing the old facilities at Croke Park with the new stadium. The GAA realised that the old Croke Park would not attract the spectators of the future, so a new stadium was built with facilities that were laughed at by some people. However, spectators began to come in ever increasing numbers.

We have done much work on the hazard analysis and critical control point, HACCP, standards legislation. It is possible to see these standards either as a nuisance or as an inconvenience that will eventually bring significant benefits and my view is, ultimately, inclined towards the latter. We know that, for example, when Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CJD, appeared in Europe, our beef market collapsed. It was not because people died in significant numbers from the disease as a result of eating Irish beef, but because of the perception.

I recently presented awards to butchers in the west who attained a HACCP standard. With the support of the local authority and specialist advice we can help people reach the high standards necessary. These standards can in turn be used as a marketing tool indicating that we have the safest food of all. The issue of hot and cold taps was raised and my answer is that we should give money to provide them. Through the CLÁR programme I have given money for farmers' markets that do not have adequate facilities. The mart of the old days — a rough place — is changing. I believe there is an excellent market in County Kilkenny that is thoroughly modern and supported by FBD, other insurance companies and so on. Farmers' organisations have offices on site there and there are cafeterias to match what one would find in any hotel. This is a far cry from the wellie cafeterias of older markets. That is the way the world is changing and I keep saying to those people——