Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Regional development and rural affairs comprise a new and important part of the work of my Department. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, will address the aspects related to his brief. This is a key priority for the Government. Over €61 million has been allocated for these purposes in my Department's Vote this year, with €40 million allocated for the Leader element of the rural development programme. The Leader programme provide will provide €250 million to support the development of sustainable rural communities in rural areas in the next five years or so and I am confident that this funding which is decided on by locals at local level will be funnelled to the areas most in need.

There are a number of Votes that are well established and new funding schemes that will provide specific supports for rural communities in the coming years. They include a town and village regeneration scheme and an allocation of €4 million this year, supplemented by a further €1 million allocated to the Western Development Commission.

I assure Deputies that my priorities in this area include the design and implementation of an action plan for rural Ireland, in addition to working with local authorities and other stakeholders to eliminate in advance delaying factors and to enable effective rural broadband delivery once a contract has been awarded under the national broadband plan in terms of procurement. While the resource requirement for these tasks will largely be met in 2016 from within existing resources, work on these priorities is already under way. I look forward to working with the committee to make progress on this agenda over the lifetime of the Government.