Westport based Fine Gael TD Michael Ring told his party’s national conference last weekend that over a decade of continuous Fianna Fáil governance has chipped away at rural Ireland, while service after service has been axed. He went on to say that he would bring a number of rural transport proposals to the party which would ensure a thriving rural Ireland into the future.
“Over 12 years of Fianna Fáil rule we have seen rural Ireland undermined,” Deputy Ring said. “The Government has stood by while Post Bank wound down its service, while Bus Éireann slashed regional routes, and while the future of rural Garda stations and post offices hangs in the balance. This has led to greater isolation in rural areas which is made all the worse by the lack of public transport. Rural transport is equally important for families, businesses, workers, and school children. It must be central to returning to a thriving rural Ireland and, with that in mind, I will be bringing proposals to the party to approve as Fine Gael policy.
“I am calling for a five-year rural transport policy, the broadening of transport services like free travel, vouchers for the elderly to avail of taxis, increased use of CIE buses in rural areas, and ring-fencing part of the carbon tax yield for rural transport,” he added. The Westport TD said that his party had the ideas to get rural Ireland back on track. “Fine Gael has the plans to get rural Ireland back to work. Our new era jobs strategy will invest in the natural resources that rural Ireland has to offer and create new income opportunities for farmers and rural people. We will support rural communities by cutting red tape, getting credit flowing to rural businesses, and providing training for people to enhance their skills. In this way we will give our children a reason to stay at home, build a secure future for rural communities and banish phrases like the ‘lost generation’ for good.”
