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

A budget for rural transport does not cut it. I accept that the Minister inherited this poor, lacklustre approach to rural proofing from his predecessor. It comes across as a box-ticking exercise; a sop to those who care about it while the Minister ditches an idea his Government decided not to follow through on.
I appeal to the Minister to review the Rural Needs Act 2016 that was introduced to the Assembly by the Sinn Féin deputy leader, Michelle O'Neill, in 2016. As the Minister will see, it is a much bigger body of work, and it went in to many more policies than the Government is including. I ask the Minister to consider this policy, read it and see what other substantive work he could do to underpin rural proofing. If we look at the two guides, it is apparent that one is serious about giving consideration to rural needs. I again ask the Minister to consider this policy Michelle O'Neill brought forward and everything within it that could be adapted.

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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