OPINION:There is no evidence to show that rural living poses greater costs on taxpayers
AS SOMEBODY who comes from Dublin 4 and lives in the country, I believe that all citizens should be treated equally as far as possible and that all communities should be developed in a sustainable way. I must take issue with the recent article by Seán Byrne (Opinion, May 28th) which seeks the demise of rural Ireland.
Mr Byrne seems to think that all PAYE workers live in towns and cities and that all rural people are farmers. With approximately a million and a half people living in rural Ireland most rural workers are in fact PAYE workers. The total number of farmers in rural Ireland is about 120,000 and many of these are part-time farmers with PAYE jobs as well and they are assessed for tax on the joint income from farming and employment.
In relation to the protests in rural Ireland against the proposals of the Government regarding septic tanks, the situation is quite simple. For those who have a mains waste water service, the State provides for the provision, upgrade and maintenance of these systems, with over €4 billion being spent by the exchequer on municipal waste water systems since 1990.
People who provide their own waste water services have traditionally paid for the provision, upgrade and maintenance of their systems. The system is very heavily weighted in favour of those with main waste water systems, compared to those living in the countryside who are dependent on septic tanks and other private waste water systems. What was objected to in rural Ireland is that those who have provided their own systems would have to pay a registration charge and also for the upgrade of their systems when this is provided out of general taxation in the rest of the country.
There is also no evidence that rural living poses greater costs on society. In fact, the opposite is probably the case as in many instances rural communities provide services for themselves that in urban communities are provided by the taxpayer.
In relation to pollution in Ireland, all Environmental Protection Agency reports indicate that the primary source of pollution in Ireland is municipal waste water systems and not the farming community.
Regarding the perennial question of one-off houses, there is no objective evidence that one-off houses are the least environmentally sustainable form of housing. In fact, with the development of new technology, one-off houses are likely to become the most sustainable form of housing as micro generation will not only provide energy for the houses and allow for the export of energy to the grid, but will in the very near future power the transport needed by rural people.
There is also no evidence that the low density of rural housing increases the cost of providing education and health services. When we look at education and health services we have to look at outputs as well as the inputs. There is very good evidence that rural schools are very efficient in terms of use of resources and that the educational achievements of children from rural areas exceeds the average of urban areas.
In fact, the greatest cost in terms of education and health services when measured against outputs is poverty and deprivation. Objective evidence shows that the areas of highest deprivation in the country are socio-segregated deprived urban areas, such as the Rapid (Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development) areas in our cities. It is for that reason that I have been a strong proponent of giving extra resources to these urban areas irrespective of the cost.
I would ask Seán Byrne to provide evidence that rural people attend hospital on average more than urban people. Again evidence shows that those from the lower socio-economic group, whether urban or rural and those who are unemployed, tend to go to the doctor more often, take more medicine and go the hospital more often and also die younger. This is irrespective of whether people are living in urban or rural areas.
Finally, we come to the nub of Seán Byrne’s argument, which is that all people must live in urban areas as he believes that only densely populated communities can be economically provided with services from the planet’s dwindling resources.
I believe that urban communities are very important, but that there should be a balance between rural and urban communities. Rather than perpetuate the rural-urban divide, I believe it should be a matter, within reason, of individual choice whether to live in urban or rural Ireland and that basic services should be available to all our citizens. I do not believe this will impose any significant extra cost on the taxpayer, when all the social and economic consequences and costs are taken into account of moving 1.5 million people out of rural Ireland into urban settings, closing down all of the schools, the health centres and all of the other facilities and rebuilding them in urban areas.
I feel it is time now for us to develop a vision for Ireland, that sees that Ireland would be a lot better from a cultural and social point of view and that our quality of life would be better if we were to continue to have a good balance between our urban and rural populations and maintain the rich diversity of Irish society.
Éamon Ó Cuív is a Fianna Fáil TD