Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State and I am glad we are having this timely debate. While supporting the broad objectives in this updated outlook, the Government's record in implementing the 2002 strategy is not great. I will give credit where it is due in that we have come on in leaps and bounds with our road network and particularly our motorway programme. It has been more expensive than we had hoped when the projects started, but the main roads are all now in place, which has helped to make the island a smaller place, not just for tourists but also for business people. However, growth and development in the regions have been disappointing and are unlikely to happen under the Government, which makes me question the targets being set.

An example is rural broadband, which is a major problem not just in my county, Meath, but throughout the country. Many rural areas are still without access and every week. I hear from people who are unable to access services in the Internet because they are still stuck with dial-up services or extremely expensive satellite services. It is impacting on the ability to work from home and therefore on the setting up of rural businesses. It is also affecting their ability to continue with lifelong learning or even adult education. This is maths week and Engineers Ireland in support of people studying applied maths and ordinary maths for their leaving certificate has put tuition material on its website www.engineersireland.ie. However, it is of little use to those living in a rural area without broadband. Such an example highlights the lack of broadband services in rural areas. I urge the Minister of State to make representations to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Ryan, to ensure the national roll-out of rural broadband takes place as soon as possible. We heard that it was meant to be complete by the end of this year but it is still some way off. The Government needs to take the issue seriously as other countries have done. It is unacceptable that so many rural areas are without broadband access.

The level of job creation through foreign direct investment has been disappointing. From 2005 to 2009 just one company set up in County Meath, even though the Celtic tiger was in full swing during that period. It is hardly a success story and more work is needed in that area. My party is working hard to promote jobs nationally and locally and I will be holding a series of seminars in County Meath in coming weeks to try to encourage growth in areas such as agri-tourism, heritage and green energy, which my county is very capable of supporting. The intention is to get some clear and concise ideas from these seminars on how to create more jobs in the area and increase the number of businesses in the area.

To encourage urban and rural development it is important to have a stock of zoned land in order that incoming businesses have somewhere to locate. That land should be developed first rather than rezoning additional land. It would be foolish to rezone additional land when so much land is zoned for industrial use particularly in the commuter counties. Pressure to rezone cheaper agricultural land still arises and many of us get regular representations from landowners and developers who want additional agricultural land rezoned. We need to stand up to that pressure and I appreciate the efforts the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is making in this regard. The Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 gives the Minister greater control of planning and rezoning strategies for the counties. However, many local authority representatives were distraught at the lack of communication and consultation from the Department on the Act. They believe the Minister's attitude has been very patronising and has undervalued these councillors. As a result they have a very negative impression of how the Act will be implemented and the Minister needs to do considerable work on liaising with local authority representatives. As someone who served as a councillor for many years I know that some councillors have made suspect decisions. They include members of all parties, including the Minister's.