Today the Government launched Our Rural Future, a new plan for rural Ireland. It is an exciting day. The potential of this plan to transform rural communities throughout the country really is something of which to take note. The plan envisages more than 400 remote working hubs across regional towns and villages, co-working and hot-desking for public servants in regional towns, for the public sector to go to 20% remote working and for that figure to increase over the next five years.

It also envisages encouraging the Industrial Development Agency, IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta to promote this across their client base; funding the repurposing of vacant buildings in our rural town centres into remote working hubs to include rural pubs no longer in use, or "hubs in pubs"; reviewing the tax arrangements for remote working in budget 2022 for employers and employees; legislation to give employees the right to request remote working; and funding our local authorities to run campaigns targeted in their areas to attract remote workers to their counties.

It is an exciting development for rural Ireland. It provides a long-term plan over the next five years and beyond to try to regenerate rural towns and villages decimated by depopulation. It will allow greater footfall and more residency in our towns and villages. We need people living in our towns and villages again. We are aware that rural people who have made the journey to live in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway would love the opportunity to go back home, once there are employment opportunities. Why should they not be there?

The only silver lining of this pandemic is that it has accelerated the pace at which we, the State, will provide the opportunity and choice for our citizens to work in the areas where they live and are from. We will no longer have a situation in which young people are forced to leave the communities they were born and reared in to seek employment in our cities because there are no opportunities where they are. I have no doubt smaller businesses, the SME sector, and the tourism and retail sectors in smaller towns and villages will be encouraged by this plan because it means more people living near their businesses and more business and footfall for them.

The plan's reach knows no bounds. If it is delivered, as envisaged, it will be transformative. It will be incumbent on every public representative to get behind the plan and over the coming years to ensure it is delivered in a fair and balanced way so that every town, village and county gets its equal and fair share. I will be strongly advocating for my county, County Mayo, to see its fair share of the investment and opportunity our rural future plan can bring.

I support the plan for rural resettlement. I hope it comes to fruition. It is a pity the old scheme was done away with because the rural resettlement scheme was a success in its own small way but I wish the new plan well.

The Leader will not be surprised I am on my feet once again because of the Defence Forces. Ireland has a responsibility beyond its borders. We are a member of the European Union and have a responsibility to protect Europe's assets. We have a responsibility to ensure drug and people trafficking does not take place off our coast. We are in the sad situation in which four of our nine ships are tied up in Haulbowline in County Cork.

The establishment figure for the Naval Service is 1,094 people. We were recently told there were 899 people still in the Naval Service. However, if we remove the 37 untrained personnel, 27 recruits and ten cadet officers, we have 862 serviceable personnel. Some 24 of those have sought their discharge which will bring the figure down even further. The sea-going allowance brought in by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, which I and others welcomed, has been a disaster. Only 48% of those serving are qualified or eligible to apply for it, so it has been a failure. We are facing a situation in which we have few experienced personnel on board our ships. It must be a serious concern for all of us.

In the high level implementation plan agreed between the representative bodies and the Government last year, technical pay was to be implemented between level 2 and level 6.

We now find out they will not be implemented. Are we really trying to drive people out of the service? Apart from above sea, below sea we have massive assets coming into the west coast of this country from the United States. There will soon be a new data link between Iceland and Ireland and another between Santander and Ireland. We have massive data communications systems coming into Ireland and no way of monitoring them under the sea.

There is a commission sitting. The Leader has promised to bring in the Minister but we need urgent action to reverse what is going on.