Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While we will not oppose the Order of Business, I would like a debate to be held early next week regarding rural Ireland and rural regeneration. We welcome the many announcements that have been made in the course of the past 24 hours on the so-called capital programme, and certain programmes seem to be supported on a regional basis, but the absence of a strategic approach to empowering rural and regional Ireland to perform to its potential is worrying. This was exemplified last week in one announcement that seemed to show complete contempt for rural Ireland, with the insult of some €30 million. When I heard about it on the radio I wondered whether it was just for Sligo and, if so, I would have been disappointed with such a small amount. The stark reality of the contempt for rural Ireland soon became crystal clear on last Wednesday's "Morning Ireland," as we heard that the €30 million was for the entire country and would be spent over the course of six years. That is a whopping €190,000 each for Sligo, Leitrim, Tipperary, and every county in Ireland that has suffered desolation and wipe-out at this Government's hands in its actions on rural and regional Ireland.

We could debate rural crime in particular. The Government closed 139 Garda stations. Yesterday we heard that a whopping €500,000 was saved with that great move. What value have we taken from our rural communities? Yesterday we heard of the shocking crime perpetrated on a family in Tipperary by a Dublin gang. Some 30,000 such burglaries have taken place in the past 12 months, a 10% increase. Many of them occurred in rural Ireland.I could give an example in Dromore West, County Sligo, in which in the early evening, while most of the family were at mass, the lady of the house was tied up and the house ransacked in search of money. Members have seen the announcements of the past couple of days to much fanfare, all of which are welcome. While any announcements regarding investment are welcome, they lack the strategic approach that is required to acknowledge the potential of rural and regional Ireland and to acknowledge the desolation they have suffered from many Governments it must be said but in particular from the current Administration in recent years. When the great account of ignoring rural Ireland is written, no Government will escape but this Government and its actions since 2011 surely will command the most damning chapters in that regard. I therefore call for a debate at the earliest possible opportunity, albeit not today because my party does not wish to be disruptive. I call for a debate in the House on rural and regional Ireland, on the Government's lack of a strategic approach to acknowledging its potential to act as a contributor to the national effort and the lack of a strategic level of focus in recent capital and other investment announcements.