Kathleen Funchion on rural transport, broadband and child poverty
Kathleen Funchion spoke about rural transport, broadband and child poverty, urging improved train timetables, fuller broadband coverage and attention to higher rural living costs. She criticised outdated local train services, gaps in the National Broadband rollout and called for wider use of community broadband models.
Transport and train timetables
She said her hometown of Callan still operates on the same train timetable she had in college, noting "635 is the last train you can get to Call Kenny." Funchion argued that current timetables make public transport impractical for many constituents. She welcomed a new local link bus to Carlow Town but warned it will not serve villages outside the town, calling that a missed opportunity for connectivity.
Broadband rollout and local gaps
Funchion described patchy broadband in Callan where parts of town are well serviced while a few streets are excluded and told to wait a year or two. She said businesses often contact her about the NBI, including cases where fibre is laid past premises yet some people are left out. She highlighted the Blue Towns Community Broadband Network pilot in Piltown, developed with the Kilkenny Leader Partnership, as an award-winning, community-owned fibre-to-premises model that returns funds to the community and enables local study and remote work.
Child poverty and rural cost differences
Referring to the Children's Rights Alliance Poverty Monitor, she noted a basket of healthy groceries cost 169 Euro in a rural area versus 147 Euro in an urban area. Funchion urged the child poverty unit in the Taoiseach's Department to examine the rural-urban dynamic affecting children, and expressed concern that little has been reported since the unit's December announcement.
Role of rural GPs and small businesses
She stressed the importance of rural GPs, who often act as a first port of call and function as small rural businesses. Funchion summed up that many in rural Ireland feel more must be done on transport, broadband and specific elements of rural poverty.
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Thanks very much. First of all, Minister, you were actually in my hometown a few years ago of Callan. It was actually a similar day to the weather we are having today, and there are some good projects, like the one you were there for that day, happening in some of our towns and our villages. So that is to be welcome. But I will say that there is still outstanding issues, as my colleagues have said. And I apologise in advance for anyone that has heard me talk about this before, because it is one of the things that really, really bothers me in relation to the constituency of Car Local Kenny and transport, and it is the train. So we have the same train timetable that we have had since I was in college, which I hate to have to admit that was 20 years ago, but it was, and we actually still have the same, 635 is the last train you can get to Call Kenny. And I have raised it in here before, because, you know, we are encouraging people to use public transport, and I would love to be able to use public transport, but unfortunately, it is not an option for myself or for any of my colleagues within that constituency, because they are in the same situation. And obviously, that affects not just us, but everybody that is in the area. Also, we just recently have a new local link bus to Carlow Town, which was very welcome, but unfortunately, it will not be serving the villages outside of the town. I think this is a missed opportunity in terms of connectivity and encouraging people as well, because there is a huge amount of people, particularly in the housing environment we are in at the moment, that would love to live in rural Ireland. They might originally be from there, or else they might be looking to relocate, and it is not an option if transport is not an option, so that is one we really need to get to grips with properly in our rural towns and villages. And the other one is in relation to broadband, because it is an issue that comes up consistently, and we have very unusual situations. We actually have a situation in Callan, where part of the town has been serviced really well with broadband, and then there is like two or three streets that seem to be totally excluded from it, and are being told they have to wait another year or two. And again, that affects people if they are trying to potentially work from home, which is great that that opportunity is there for so many people now, but obviously it is not realistic if you cannot access the broadband. I also wanted to mention something in relation to the rural community, and also about the child poverty, because Children's Rights Alliance last week launched their Children's Rights Alliance Poverty Monitor, and it showed a basket of healthy groceries for a family living in the rural area was 169 Euro compared to 147 in an urban area, and we do know that food poverty is a big issue, and particularly it affects rural areas, I suppose, differently. But I am hoping that the unit that we have heard about in the Taoiseach Department, the child poverty unit, will examine the rural urban dynamic for children living in rural areas. However, I am very concerned, I suppose, that that was announced in December, and we are into June, and we really have not heard very much about what exactly is happening in that situation. One of the most common issues businesses contact my office about is the NBI, as I have just already said. There are cases of it literally being laid along the road in front of a rural business, but for some reason people get left out of it, and it is really, really frustrating. I want to just briefly mention something that I think is a really good initiative, and it has actually been rolled out by the Kilkenny Leader Partnership. I think we should look at this type of a model and see if we can replicate it in other towns and villages. It is called the Blue Towns Community Broadband Network. It is developed as a pilot program in the village of Piltown in South Kilkenny, and the community in Piltown developed an award-winning fibre-to-premises broadband network. It is community-owned, so that means that any funds generated are going back into the community. It is high-capacity broadband for the community, and it has transformed. People are able to study in the area, people are able to work from home potentially, and then any benefits are coming back to the community. It is initiatives like this that I really think need to be encouraged and rolled out to other villages and towns. When I said there is some changes happening, there is still an awful lot of progress to be made. I think as well we need to remember the role of the GP in rural Ireland. I met with some GPs recently from a rural community that are really doing excellent work in their area. Often they are more than just a GP service, they are the first port of call for a lot of issues someone might be experiencing. And we need to remember their place in the rural community as well, and that they are also a small rural business. But I would think a lot of people listening to this debate from rural Ireland do feel that an awful lot more needs to be done, particularly around transport, broadband and elements of poverty that are very different than urban areas. Thank you very much. Thank you.
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