Protecting Rural Ireland: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-15 ============================================================ Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel I welcome the Minister and the official to the Seanad. This is particularly important Private Members' business. I thank Senators Collins and Tully for setting out the background and the rationale behind their Private Members' motion. I acknowledge the Minister's exceptional commitment to rural Ireland and his Ministry. It is an amazing Ministry and I acknowledge the significant work the former Ministers, Heather Humphreys and Michael Ring, did in this area. It is a very special Ministry. There is not a day that statements do not come from the Minister. On a personal level I thank him for the level of engagement he has always shown to me in a most timely and professional way in relation to any representation I make on behalf of our rural county councillors and with regard to my interest in agriculture on the committee here. This is important to say. I have to say I am somewhat surprised with the general Government response. Senators O'Loughlin and Lynch have spoken very positively about all of the issues and I do not understand why there is a countermotion. A countermotion is the Government's prerogative but this one is an add-on to what has already been said. I do not understand why it is one or the other. I genuinely say this as someone who likes to collaborate and work constructively with people. Both Senators come from constituencies that have rural and urban parts. There are urban parts in all of our areas. I am somewhat surprised by what the amendment tabled to the motion proposes to delete and it is important to say it to people are looking in at this debate. How could the Government have a problem with the statement that "many rural areas continue to experience population decline, reduced public services, inadequate transport links, limited access to healthcare, childcare and housing, and declining frontline Garda visibility". There are reasons for these things and it is not laying the blame on anybody. The motion also states that "productive agricultural land is a strategic national asset that must be protected to safeguard food security, support family farms and sustain rural communities". There is no problem with that and I do not think the Minister has a problem with it. The next paragraph reads "the transition to renewable energy and the development of critical infrastructure must be carried out in a manner that respects local democracy, protects the environment and ensures meaningful community participation". Senator O'Loughlin spoke very eloquently about the need for critical infrastructure and supported it. I do not understand how someone could suggest all of this should be scratched out. It is something I think is very positive. These are just two or three examples of what the motion includes. The motion calls on the Government to "protect productive agricultural land through strengthened planning policy and ensure that food security is recognised as a strategic national priority". The motion also mentions accelerating investment in rural healthcare, home support services, childcare, schools, public transport, broadband and affordable housing. How could someone have an issue with this? How could someone suggest all of this is not good enough? Interestingly, these are all keywords and AI is a very interesting tool when used responsibly. All of this appears in the programme for Government. All of these key messages that the Government somehow seems to have a problem with are all positive ambitious plans in the current programme for Government. This is worth saying. I am very supportive of the motion and I thank Sinn Féin, in particular Senators Collins and Tully, for having this debate. It is important we have respectful and meaningful debate and I acknowledge this. I am conscious of the Minister's public consultation, and I acknowledge it and thank them for it, in relation to the Our Rural Future work programme in 2025. In fairness to him, he did not stop at that. I received a further update when I requested it from his office very recently. It set out an intermediary between the two documents of ongoing commitments. It is very impressive and I acknowledge this. I know the public consultation is complete but it is important we publish it. We saw with regard to exempted development that 900 citizens made a submission and, as of today, the housing Department has not published the consultation. This is a bit disappointing. When people engage in a consultation process, they want to feel that their voices are heard. The only way they will see this is when it is published. I am not looking for the names of the people to be published but it is important that we publish the outcome of it. We know the programme for Government includes a commitment to publish the replacement of this. It has been a very successful blueprint and it is great when a Minister has a whole policy to attach to it. I am also conscious of the fact the OECD principles on rural policy clearly set down 11 objectives and I know they are embedded into this as a given. I want to touch on a few issues before I finish. It is important we recognise the diversity in the demographics of rural Ireland. We recognise the planning challenges and opportunities ahead of us and we must be ambitious. Sinn Féin's Private Members' motion mentions employment opportunities, developing smarter towns and villages, community infrastructure and our ambition for housing, education, healthcare and childcare. The motion also mentions the importance of the Irish language, to which the Minister is fiercely committed, and rightly so, and this is very admirable. It references the importance of coastal communities and the islands to which, again, the Minister is fiercely committed. I thank him for the announcement made yesterday on funding for a number of coastal communities and the islands. It is significant. The Private Members' motion commits to supporting a just transition, to which I know the Minister is fully committed. It also mentions the agrifood sector and the importance of diversification in agriculture, the maritime sector, coastal communities and fishing communities in terms of rural policy. Consideration should also be given to heritage and culture, tourism opportunities and sport, including the GAA, the FAI and all other local sports organisations. We could go on and on and include Tidy Towns and credit unions. It is important we have rural proofing of every and any policy the Government espouses. That should go regardless of any policy the Government espouses. I would have liked to think we could integrate both of these - what my colleagues to my left have proposed and what the Government is setting out in its record because it does have a strong record. Let us be fair and reasonable and acknowledge that. It is a pity it should come to this. The one thing the public wants and expects of us is unity in these political arenas, the House of the Oireachtas, such that we represent constituencies. They want us to support one another. It is not about arguing all the time and demolishing ideas. No one has a veto over ideas or concepts. It is a pity it has come to this. I do not know what thought put or strategy was put into it but it sends a bit of a negative. I will support the Sinn Féin motion. I am happy also to support the track record, in particular the Minster's, in this area. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:16+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-15