Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all welcomed the establishment of the portfolio of Minister for Rural and Community Development to ensure that rural issues were addressed. What we have is a Minister who announces every LEADER grant. It is not necessary for a Minister to announce every initiative. The LEADER programme was administered for years without any oversight by a Minister for Rural and Community Development. Where is the vision? Issues such as the national broadband plan, broadband service provision, providing the climate for jobs and enterprise and maximising the fibre cable connecting America with the west coast are the issues on which the Minister should be focused, not the opening of new footpaths. What he is doing is astounding and I hope people will see through it in a couple of weeks' time.

We are all aware of the need for rural broadband and we all want to see it delivered. It should be delivered because the lost opportunities around not having it delivered are enormous. We were told yesterday that the worst option is the only option. The Government then turned on the spin. This Government will be known as the Government of spin and bluster. Just over an hour ago, documentation from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was released which shows that under the current model, many other projects will be delayed or never happen because of the overspend. People in rural Ireland want to know what is going on. The letter from the Secretary General, Mr. Robert Watt, states that this represents a major subsidy from the taxpayer for private benefits. He goes on to say that he believes there are unprecedented risks to the Exchequer posed by this proposed project.The Government has pursued a procurement model that will see the taxpayer subsidise a private consortium with no experience in the sector to the tune of €3 billion. That State will not even own the infrastructure at the end of the contract. I call on the Minister to come to the House to answer questions on this.

I also note with regret that this year's Ballina Salmon Festival has been cancelled after running for 65 years. Recent rises in insurance costs pushed it over the edge this year. Many festivals and events are under pressure because of unpredictable and inexcusable increases in insurance costs. It means they are no longer viable. The Alliance for Insurance Reform has identified the lack of action from the Government in setting up a Garda insurance fraud unit and a lack of urgency in passing legislation that is needed to tackle insurance cartels. People are fed up of the Government talking about insurance and costs. The Ballina Salmon Festival was important not only to Ballina but the whole of Mayo and the west of Ireland. It is absolutely criminal that the festival cannot go ahead this year because of the costs.