I join other colleagues who paid tribute to our former colleague, Jimmy Harte, on his retirement. I wish him and his family the very best for the future. He was a very gentle, quiet spoken man, but he got his message across on many occasions. He will be truly missed by us all.

Rural Ireland has been in the national media in recent weeks. The attack on rural Ireland not only by the Government but by criminal gangs has been raised in every council chamber in the country and in this Chamber for many years. I am sad to report that not a lot of action has taken place to address these concerns. We learned in today's media of the statement by the Minister of Justice and Equality that the closure of more than 100 rural Garda stations has saved a mere €500,000. This is on top of the closure of many post offices. In my county town of Cavan, the most modern army barracks in Europe and the only purpose-built army barracks in the State was closed. It is costing more to maintain the building now than it was to run it when it was at full capacity. This is a terrible indictment of the Government.

To my amazement, I find myself in total agreement with Senator Cáit Keane on her proposal on number plate identification. I will go one step further: in an effort to combat and crack down on rural crime, if investment were made in smart technology on every rural road in Ireland, An Garda Síochána would be in a position to pick up number plates that were not valid. A signal could be sent to the gardaí in close proximity and they could apprehend such vehicles. This is where investment should be made. Unfortunately, the Garda stations that are now closed will never be opened regardless of who is in government. This is my firm belief. We should invest in this technology. Senator Feargal Quinn has mentioned in the past that such camera technology is in existence in rural parts of countries such as France, as well as on main highways, and it can record the speed at which a car is travelling. Surely it is not beyond the realm of possibility to put this infrastructure in rural Ireland to assist the Garda in identifying the criminal gangs coming down from major cities to rob vulnerable people.

I very much welcome the capital plan for the next five and a half years which was announced today with a significant investment of €27 billion. Obviously, this will restore, I hope, all of the jobs lost during the recession and address many of the infrastructural deficits we have. To pick up on the arguments made by Senators Diarmuid Wilson and Cáit Keane, the only way we will beat the criminals in today's world who are very sophisticated is with technology. It is welcome that more than €200 million is in the plan for investment in technology. Good technology and Garda vehicles will go a long way towards tackling the problem of rural crime. We must ensure Garda stations have technology and facilities. Recently I visited the Garda station in Ballinasloe and was horrified to see how primitive the conditions were and the poor facilities for the detention of prisoners.

If that is replicated throughout the country, we need significant investment in existing Garda stations.

It is welcome that during the lifetime of the capital plan, 45,000 jobs will be created in construction. That will get the construction sector off its knees, so to speak, and give it a badly needed boost.

The Fine Gael-Labour Party Government is to be applauded on the progress made in the past four and a half years. Having got the country up off its knees, it now has an ambitious programme to drive forward the recovery and ensure that we never again get ourselves into the position we have been in for the past seven or eight years. I welcome the announcement today of the rural economic development zones and the allocation of funding for same. In County Galway alone, €207,500 was allocated, with €60,000 being allocated to Ballinasloe Area Community Development, which submitted a fantastic application. That €60,000 will help it put together a plan that will drive economic recovery, particularly in the retail sector in towns like Ballinasloe and others towns in east Galway.