Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All of the actions must come together. This is the first ever cross-Government, co-ordinated approach to rural Ireland. Real jobs are being created. The best yardstick to measure that is the unemployment figures, which are down from 15% to 7% and we will continue to work on that. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, has further initiatives to get people who are long-term unemployed back into the jobs market. The one real measure is the drop in unemployment.We need to continue to work on that also. I believe I have covered all those issues.

I wish to emphasise how much I believe in the potential of rural communities. I see the resilience, resourcefulness and tenacity of my own rural community. Parishes were mentioned. I am from the parish of Aghabog in County Monaghan and I understand the strength of parishes. Some people say Ireland is made up of parishes. When one goes to America, all they want to know is the parish one is from. I believe in the strength of those parishes and if we tap into that resourcefulness, commitment and community, we will ensure that rural Ireland succeeds.

As I said previously, rural Ireland does not need to be saved; it just needs to be supported. That is what I want to do through this plan. I want to change that narrative, and this plan means that Departments will have to rural proof their decisions. In everything they intend to do, they will have to consider rural Ireland. I do not believe that happened in the past. When Ministers are making decisions, they will have to consider the impact those decisions will have on rural Ireland.

Rural Ireland can and does make a huge contribution to our economy through innovative industries, thriving community activism, new approaches to attracting tourism and its commitment to creativity and culture. I accept there are challenges, but we want to address those challenges by maximising the full potential of rural communities.

In terms of jobs, 72% of jobs created in 2016 were outside the greater Dublin area. Mention was made of credit unions. Credit unions are mentioned in the plan, and I very much want to work with credit unions because that is another wonderful voluntary and community organisation that we can partner with in terms of initiatives across rural Ireland.

Services were mentioned. There is an explicit commitment in the action plan that no rural school will be closed against the wishes of the parents. The Department of Health will increase general practitioner services in rural communities and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, will shortly bring proposals to Government to support the post office network. Also, 50,000 apprenticeships will be provided across the country by 2020. That is very important. I again thank the Senators for their contributions.