Rural Schemes
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Cathy Bennett (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

I must say that is an incredibly disappointing response. Let me tell the Minister what I heard. The last Government committed to developing a rural proofing model. The Minister took a look at it and said, "Hey, presto. It turns out we were doing it perfectly all along." The Minister then decided to make this a guide for rural proofing for policymakers. The Minister can do more. Where is rural proofing when it comes to free travel cards for kids effectively excluded in many rural communities? The Government did the same thing with the young adult travel card many years before this. Where was rural proofing when the Government jacked up the carbon tax earlier this year, disproportionately hitting rural dwellers without access to public transport? Will the Minister outline the great successes of his rural proofing model?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05