Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Ring, is very welcome and I thank him for his presence in the House. I congratulate him and wish him well in his new role. What does hearten me is that the Minister is a man born from the roots of rural Ireland. That does give me some confidence that he does understand the plight of rural Ireland and the pressures and strains that rural Ireland currently is going through.

Having said that, there is no denying that the Fine Gael-led Government over the last couple of years has allowed this country to develop a two-tier economy where the growth is primarily concentrated in the major cities such as Dublin, which accounts for as many jobs as the next 45 towns and cities put together. In many ways rural Ireland under Fine Gael to date is the black sheep of Government thinking. Rural Ireland can be described as being in the intensive care ward. We cannot just blame lack of finance. The new Department of Rural and Community Development has a budget of €212 million. It is 36% behind expenditure targets as of November. A whopping €54 million has been left unspent in rural Ireland. If we look at the many areas of concern, under the different headings and we go through the list, it does make for depressing reading.

We have 139 Garda stations closed which has resulted in an increase in rural crime of 8%. The figure increased this year to 30,000. We have had four Army barracks closed in Clonmel, Mullingar, Cavan and Castlebar. We had 24 post office closures and 160 bank branches closed. Rural schools are under severe pressure through lack of numbers. We have had ten GP training positions unfilled as rural GP practices just cannot survive. Bus Éireann alone has reduced services by over 100 routes. We have talked in this Chamber, and indeed in the other House, many times about the IDA and visits to rural Ireland. Unfortunately, the evidence is laid bare to date.

I refer also to the issue of rural housing of which I am sure the Minister is aware.Access to rural housing by people who would like to live where they were reared is becoming increasingly difficult.

I mentioned crime statistics earlier. In regard to Garda stations and Garda numbers, Garda numbers in Athlone are at a critical level. Almost half of the county, which has a population of over 65,000 people, is being policed by one patrol car six nights a week, and it is lucky to have two occupants in that car.

I am heartened that the Minister, Deputy Ring, was born and reared in rural Ireland. I would like to acknowledge some of the recent developments in this area. The Minister referred to the local improvement schemes, the reintroduction of which everybody from rural Ireland has been striving to achieve. I welcome the recent allocations for this scheme and I congratulate the Minister on securing them. This scheme is vital to those who live in remote locations throughout rural Ireland. There is much work to be done in this area. In many ways, rural Ireland is at a crossroads and its future is in the hands of the Minister, Deputy Ring, and the Government. Unless we do something different from what was done before, we will back here next year and the year after discussing this topic.

There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the Minister, Deputy Ring, but I have confidence in him. I am confident that he will be able to persuade his Cabinet colleagues that rural Ireland is a critical stage such that unless we have a plan to address the decline therein, it will reach the point of no return. I look forward to more positive announcements from the Minister in regard to this area such that when we are discussing this issue in 12 months, I will have an opportunity to praise him for all of the good work done.