Ward: ‘Many Donegal people in Dublin would move back in the morning’

TD Charles Ward has said that he believes many Donegal people living in Dublin “would move back in the morning” if there were more opportunities in the county.

The Donegal Deputy was speaking in favour of a motion to introduce a real right for employees to flexible and remote work and to introduce an action plan to improve public transport services over the next 12 months.

Deputy Ward said: “Centering investment, development and employment in Dublin has not only hurt rural areas, but has put significant pressure on our capital. Allowing for remote work would help alleviate the pressure in Dublin, while also repopulating our rural towns.”

He stated: “I know and have met so many Donegal people, living in the city, that would only love the opportunity to move back at some point. People of all ages, older people looking to retire to their hometown, and parents wanting to raise their children in the same place that they grew up. These people should all be given the opportunity to make that life for themselves, to have access to work and transport and homes in rural areas.”

The 100% Redress leader welcomed that Tory Island has finally received fibre broadband, meaning that 118 homes and businesses on the island now have access to high-speed broadband, but said it is “ridiculous” that it has taken this long.

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He said: “We need to ensure that the infrastructure is there to make flexible and remote work possible. We need to prioritise upgrading the national grid. The fact that there has been so many outages in rural areas, due to the increase in storms, has made it very difficult for remote working to be a viable option.” 

Deputy Ward said that allowing remote and flexible work would help breathe life into many towns and villages that have been abandoned and have seen no investment in recent years.

“It would stop the steady loss of public amenities and essential services that we are seeing lately,” he said, “for example Baile Láir post office in Fanad, which operated in the same family since 1873, closed down last year, and Fintra National School in Killybegs now faces closure because they do not have the population to sustain it.”