Page 43 of the programme for Government indicates that the Government promises to put in place measures to revitalise all of Ireland. In January 2017 the Government launched the Action Plan for Rural Development and Pat Spillane was appointed an ambassador to engage with local communities. Rural Ireland is getting a hammering in every way possible. I have been canvassing in west Cork and have found at every second house I have called to that people are angry at the way the Government has walked away from rural Ireland. My sources tell me that Pat Spillane, who the Government appointed and who has been a clear voice for the people of rural Ireland, has been removed from this position. Is this another nail in the coffin for rural Ireland? Has the Government removed the ambassador for rural development?

The Deputy knows west Cork well, as do I, but anybody who would suggest that places like west Cork in rural Ireland - or that rural Ireland - are being abandoned by the Government simply is not looking at the facts. We are investing in rural communities right across the country and we will continue to do that. We have for the first time a medium-term plan for this country to move away from the dominance of the east coast and Dublin and urban centres generally to invest in rural Ireland in terms of the increasing population and that plan is starting to work. People should not continue to reinforce the view that somehow rural Ireland is being abandoned. There are pressures in rural Ireland but the Government continues to prioritise both social infrastructure across rural Ireland and many of the other businesses and enterprises that are part of rural life.

My question was about the ambassador for rural Ireland to which I did not get an answer.