Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I am glad to speak on the rural development programme and its role in shaping the Ireland of the future. It is vital that we think about the future because for too long rural development in Ireland has been left behind and has been the poor relation of Government policy. As the economic boom turns to bust, rural Ireland is staring at a decade of stagnation, financial hardship and, potentially, emigration.

The usefulness and integrity of the rural development programme is not in question. The scheme continues to provide training and the support of expert professional advice on business start-ups, agribusinesses, crafts and agricultural innovation. I was a director of Meath Partnership, or Meath Leader as it was then, and I recognise and am well aware of the positive role the partnership and leadership programmes have played in rural Ireland. However, in many areas these programmes are only a drop in the ocean. While rural development programmes go some way to addressing the difficulties inherent in rural living, the overall picture remains decidedly bleak. The new rural development programme is useful and welcome, but it is difficult to avoid the impression that it is just an outdated blueprint designed for more prosperous times.

The scale of the impending economic crisis is such that the impact will be felt differently across the country and the inequality that existed already with regard to the urban-rural split will become painfully more apparent in the difficult times ahead. The question therefore is how can we nurture vibrant rural communities where farmers and non-farmers living there contribute towards the well-being and future of their locality.

I wonder, for example, how we can nurture communities by closing rural post offices. Some 500 post offices have closed throughout Ireland in the past ten years. This has a significant impact on community life. One consequence of post office closures is that elderly people feel more isolated and disconnected from their localities. Post offices are the focus of local communities and decisions on their closure cannot be justified purely on cost terms. We need to consider factors such as the socio-economic benefits of keeping rural post offices open.

This time last year there were 170,000 people unemployed throughout the country. Last week, the Taoiseach said he expects this number to rise to approximately 300,000 in the coming two years. These job losses will be devastating for rural communities. Senator Ó Domhnaill will be well aware that just a few years ago the census figures showed that in rural areas such as Donegal 25% of people were unemployed. In two electoral wards in Mayo, the unemployment rate was as high as 40%. If this is a snapshot of the rural community during the good times, we can only imagine what the situation will be in a few years' time when the full effects of the economic crisis and downturn will be felt.

The most recent budget has not helped the countryside. In agriculture, the much vaunted early retirement scheme for farmers has been cut, installation aid for young farmers is gone, payments in the suckler cow welfare scheme have been halved and the fallen animals aid scheme subvention has been slashed. Cutbacks such as post office closures on one hand and attacks on farmer's allowances on the other mean that rural living as a viable way of life and alternative to urban living is in serious jeopardy. While 40% of the country's population live in the countryside, equity of opportunity in rural as compared to urban areas is grossly deficient.

Earlier this year the Minister wrote an article for the Irish Examiner in which he said: "No rural area has the social, economic or quality of life deprivation found in Ireland's worst off urban communities." Social and economic poverty has many faces. While it may not be as potent, concentrated or visible in rural areas as compared with large towns and cities, this does not imply that poverty does not exist in rural communities.