Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about the Minister of Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, who made an announcement over the weekend, and pay tribute to a Fine Gael Minister who has done wonders for rural and local communities all over the country. She made an number of visits to counties Roscommon and Galway in my case, which were the result of investment in our region be it through CLÁR or the towns and villages schemes. Many funding streams from the Department of Rural and Community Development have had an impact. They are about showing that rural areas are great places to bring up a family, to start a family, live and work and we have everything to offer young people in our local rural areas. The Minister has done so much for that. She is passionate about rural life and what towns and villages have to offer. She has done so much work particularly for Meals on Wheels and bus transport - all innovate policies brought in through during her time in her portfolio. She will be here to speak to us later in the Seanad as the Minister for Social Protection. One of her prides and joys from listening to her on Radio 1 over the weekend and on RTÉ 1 is school meals. She sees it as one of her key achievements.This Government has been able to do that. It has been able to ensure the scheme has been rolled out to more schools, from 30 only five years ago to nearly 2,000 schools now. The intent is to deliver school meals to all schools by the end of 2025. These are great achievements. I pay tribute to the Minister for that. There is no stopping her energy and enthusiasm, no matter what she may say.

Separately, the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, made an incredible announcement on Friday with respect to courses in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. Through the National Training Fund, this will unlock over €130 million to be dedicated to those courses and places. One of the programmes is a very innovative University of Galway based on and informed by international guidance.

Locally, I see what happens with GPs. We are unable to get GPs to serve in rural practices. What we see here is an innovative course, for the first time in Ireland, being run out of the University of Galway. It is going to look at graduate medical entry for rural and remote areas. That will mean we are going to take on graduate students with an interest in rural and remote areas. When they are doing their training, it will not solely be in the university. They will do training in medical academies in Castlebar, Letterkenny and the likes of Portiuncula University Hospital in Ballinasloe, and they will also be embedded in GP practices. How on earth are we going to get graduates to consider working in our communities other than by showing them that GPs are the fabric of our local communities? This is a crucial course. I have been calling for it for over two years and I am delighted to see the Minister has made this announcement. It is going to have a huge impact for us in the west.