Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Táim thar a bheith sásta go bhfuil sí anseo agus tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go mbeidh an díospóireacht seo againn. Fáiltím go mór roimh a ceapúchán. I very much welcome the position which has been created and that we have a Minister of State with responsibility for rural affairs as it is very important. However, I must say the budget of €1 million is pitiful in the broader context, if, for example, one considers how much has been spent on consultants in Irish Water, which is €86 million. If rural Ireland is such a priority for the Government, the fact it can earmark only €1 million for it is quite pitiful.

All of the recommendations in CEDRA are commendable, and nothing among them surprised anybody involved in rural Ireland or development. The biggest issues are job creation and service provision. I do not see enough in the report on these and much more needs to be done. One cannot go into too much detail on every recommendation in a debate such as this, but because the interdepartmental group meets regularly and the Minister of State has updates on its specific recommendations, perhaps she could make a document available to us on what has been done and what has not on each specific recommendation in order that we can keep track of it.

The strategy on youth in rural areas could be beefed up. There is a lack of facilities. It is great if one is into the GAA or other sports, but if one is not there is a dearth of activities and facilities for young people in rural areas, which is raised regularly in the House as an issue.

I am interested to hear rural-proofing is being done in a meaningful way. Perhaps the Minister of Stage can tell us a little more about how this is being done. What framework is being used? How is it being measured and put into practice? Rather than asking somebody working on a strategy to include a paragraph or two about rural Ireland and calling it rural-proofed, is there a framework for rural-proofing?

I am not as optimistic as my colleagues with regard to rural broadband. On 9 May 2011 a statement was issued by the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, announcing a new rural broadband scheme to identify the remaining individual premises in rural Ireland unable to obtain broadband and ensure universal broadband access was provided in Ireland by the end of 2012. We are still waiting, which speaks for itself.

I am concerned that another report will state there will be a time lag and that rural areas will still be trying to catch up, at which time we will already be contemplating the next phase of broadband. The CEDRA report makes specific reference to fibre delivery to rural towns. Perhaps the Minister of State could give us a note on that. What is the plan? Is there a list of the towns under consideration?

A significant issue arises regarding rural transport and centralisation in this regard. Rural hackney licences have been mentioned. How many such licences have been issued at this stage? I do not know anybody who has one, nor do I know whether there is much take-up or how useful the arrangement will be.

Another part of the backdrop is the cuts to the community and voluntary sector. There have been cuts of up to 40% or 50% in most parts of the sector. This has had a detrimental impact. It has had a bigger impact in rural areas than in urban areas. There have been closures of social welfare offices under the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton. This has had a big impact in rural areas also. It was a very retrograde step.

With regard to the specific recommendations, there is talk of rural economic development zones. Have these been identified? If not, how will they be identified? Recommendation No. 6 concerns the rural towns stimulus programme, which was mentioned. Has this been developed? If not, when? How does the Minister of State intend to proceed in this regard?

Recommendation No. 7 is on the national spatial strategy. Do we have a national spatial strategy? If so, how will it affect rural areas?

Recommendation No. 8 concerns the new Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland unit. A steering committee is to be set up to address rural targets. Has it been set up? If not, when will it happen? It is mentioned here regularly.

Recommendations Nos. 11 and 7, in particular, point to the elephant in the room in terms of rural development. I was part of a Leader programme delegation to Brussels yesterday. There are very serious concerns among the Leader and local development companies, which are the backbone of most of the development that needs to be carried out in rural areas. Many of the targets and plans in the CEDRA report would need to be linked to those companies. The delegation I was part of met Commission representatives yesterday and they told us they have written to the Government here because they have over 400 questions on the proposed implementation of the Leader programme here that they want answered because they are not happy with the way it is approaching it.

The delegation included members from the trade unions, the companies and political representatives from across the spectrum, all of whom are very concerned with the way in which the Leader programme companies are being subsumed into the local authorities. They believe power is being taken away from them and that there is a lack of consultation on this process. This must be addressed. SIPTU is being stonewalled by the Department, which will not meet regarding the transfer of undertakings and the workers in the companies. We face circumstances in which 36 development companies will be shrunk to 28 local area groups. This almost dictates there will be only 28 companies. The counties most affected will be rural counties such as Galway, Mayo, Donegal, Tipperary and Kerry. Could the Minister of State comment on that? Does she agree with the policy? I actually do not agree with the recommendation in the CEDRA report that we should centralise local development under the local authorities. It is a hugely retrograde step and it flies in the face of the concept of community development from the ground up. It will not save any money.

Yesterday, we met representatives from the European network for regional development, who gauge the Leader companies across Europe. They told the Balkan states the Irish model that we have had until now is the prime model to follow and that every other country should follow it. However, we are regressing due to the changes that have been brought in. This is the elephant in the room.

Is the Government aware of the 400 questions the Commission has sent to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government on the Leader programme? If so, to what areas do they pertain and how serious are they? Will the Minister of State ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, to consider seriously the other botch-up by his predecessor, Mr. Phil Hogan, namely, the downgrading and dismantling of the Leader sector and local development companies? I have many more questions. I hope to write to the Minister of State and put them to her in due course. Perhaps we will have more debates on rural affairs.