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

I thank the Chair, Deputy Naughten, and the committee members for the invitation to meet with them today and provide an update on the topic of rural development. The timing of our meeting could hardly be better, as I recently launched Our Rural Future, the new five year policy for rural Ireland, developed by my Department in collaboration with colleagues across Government and State agencies, as well as with stakeholders in the rural development sector. It was also developed following extensive consultation with those living and working in rural Ireland, including on our offshore islands.

I would like to express my gratitude to this committee for its inputs into the process of developing this ambitious new plan. It was heartening in recent weeks to see that level of ambition was picked up internationally by the likes ofThe New York Times, The Financial Timesand the World Economic Forum, all highlighting Ireland’s plans for rural development as a leader in Europe.

All here today, like me, are passionate about rural Ireland and are aware of the challenges facing rural communities, whether it is retaining our young people, creating new employment opportunities or maintaining local services and amenities.

As we emerge from the shadows cast by Covid-19, an unparalleled opportunity now exists to re-imagine and re-value what rural Ireland means to our society and to maximise a recovery for all parts of our country and for all of our people. It was through this prism we developed Our Rural Future and the implementation of the measures within this policy has the potential to bring about transformative change for rural Ireland.

Our Rural Future represents the Government’s blueprint for the sustainable development of rural Ireland over the next five years. It provides the framework to achieve the vision of transforming the quality of life and opportunity for people living in rural areas. It provides for more than 150 commitments across the whole-of-government. Those measures will be monitored by a Cabinet committee, chaired by the Taoiseach, and complemented by new commitments as part of the development of an annual work programme each year.

Among its high-level outcomes, the policy aims to facilitate more people living in rural Ireland and more people working in rural Ireland, with good career prospects, including by capitalising on new digital opportunities. It also seeks to ensure rural Ireland benefits from a just transition to a more sustainable economy and society and that rural towns are revitalised to become vibrant hubs for commercial and social activity, with access to public services.

We have already seen the impact of the shift to remote, or, connected working brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. It provided us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-imagine what working in rural Ireland means and, in conjunction with the roll-out of the national broadband plan, has the potential to have a truly transformative impact.

By giving people the choice to work from their own local communities, we can revitalise our town centres and reverse population decline by not just retaining people but actually attracting people back. We can also reduce commuting times, lower transport emissions and, more importantly, improve the quality of life of our people. To realise this ambition would mean a step change in terms of national development, allowing us to rebalance the economy, take the pressure off the east coast, reduce regional disparities and unlock the true potential of our regions.

We will support the increased demand for remote working by developing and connecting approximately 400 working facilities into a unified national hub network, with a centralised online booking system. In simple terms, this will mean people will be able to log on to an app, find a hot desk at the hub closest to them and book it for a day, a week, a month or whatever suits their needs. We are going to invest significantly in remote working infrastructure. This will include investment in the development of new hubs but, equally important, investing in our many existing hubs around the country and bringing them up to a high-quality, modern standard to support workers' needs. Through the development of the national hub network, I believe we will significantly increase the attractiveness of rural areas for mobile talent. It will be important also for the Government to lead by example, and the policy has a commitment that will see 20% of public servants working remotely by the end of this year. The Tánaiste will also bring forward legislation later this year to give workers the right to request remote working.

Our Rural Future is backed up by unprecedented levels of investment for rural development. Since the launch of the policy just three weeks ago, I have announced a new €70 million transitional LEADER programme. The bottom-up, locally led approach that has always been central to LEADER will be key to the delivery of this policy. As I have said previously, the Government alone does not have all the answers when it comes to rural development. Every town, village, parish and island is different and the people best placed to effect change in their communities are the people who live there and know them best. Yesterday, I announced €75 million for 24 projects under the €1 billion rural regeneration development fund. When we include matching funding, these projects have a total value of about €87 million.

With the announcement yesterday, we really see that Our Rural Future been put firmly into action. Many of the projects involve vacant premises in our rural town centres being redeveloped and given a new purpose. Some really exciting projects were announced yesterday that will see flagship town centre buildings, such as former cinemas, courthouses, hotels, convents, and market houses being transformed into remote working hubs, libraries, cultural, enterprise and community spaces. There is also a strong public realm aspect to many of the projects, which will see the development of pedestrian zones, green areas and outdoor public spaces, which will increase the vibrancy of these towns and villages and breathe new life into them. Projects such as these are absolutely key to Our Rural Future and, as I have said, the focus is very much on combating dereliction and regenerating iconic town centre buildings with a new 21st century purpose.

Yesterday was the start of things to come. I hope to issue a new call for category 2 applications under the rural regeneration fund in the coming weeks, and I will bring forward a new town and village renewal scheme. The CLÁR programme is open for applications and we have included a new innovation measure under the programme this year. This innovation measure is really targeted at supporting good ideas that do not have a funding home or cannot find funding elsewhere. I encourage committee members to promote this in their counties because I really want to see exciting and innovative ideas coming forward.

The pandemic has given many people a new and renewed appreciation for our great outdoors. I am very fortunate where I live in Monaghan, as I get up every day and look out at rolling green fields and little drumlins. Others are not so lucky. When the restrictions hit, people in our cities did not have this, and not having these green spaces was really hard for many people, for their physical health and, more importantly, for their mental health. It is something those of us who live in the countryside probably take for granted. There are mountains, forests, rivers and lakes all on our doorsteps. From a personal perspective as we emerge from Covid, I know I will certainly have a renewed appreciation for just how lucky I am to live in rural Ireland. While there are and will always be challenges, I would not live anywhere else.

I will shortly launch the 2021 outdoor recreation scheme. This scheme will focus on developing amenities such as our forests, lakes and rivers and increasing access to them. Coming back to Our Rural Future, one of the objectives of the policy is to develop a new national outdoor recreation strategy. We have a wonderful tourism offering in rural Ireland when it comes to activities such as cycling, hiking, kayaking, fishing and much more. Through investing in our natural amenities, we can develop significant spin-off benefits for local economies. This will be a key focus of the outdoor recreation scheme this year.

Outside of the Department, there is, of course, huge investment taking place right throughout Government, the most notable of which is the €2.7 billion investment in the delivery of high-speed broadband to rural areas under the national broadband plan. As part of Our Rural Future, we want to accelerate the roll-out of the national broadband plan. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and National Broadband Ireland are examining whether we can deliver the plan in five years as opposed to seven years. In the meantime, continued investment in our hubs and our broadband connection points will be absolutely crucial.

As the future of our rural communities, we want young people growing up in rural areas to have an active role in shaping the future of rural Ireland. There is a strong emphasis in the policy on supporting young people, including through the establishment of a rural youth assembly, developing their leadership skills in their communities, expanding the range of apprenticeships and establishing more technological universities in the regions.

As I have mentioned, Our Rural Future contains more than 150 policy measures for delivery across Government, and my Department will be publishing reports every six months reflecting the progress being made on delivering these measures. The policy also contains a commitment to publish annual work programmes, which, as I have said, could see additional measures added each year. The Department is finalising its 2021 work programme, which will outline the actions for delivery this year, and I expect to publish it in the coming weeks. Actions for delivery this year will include the introduction of legislation to provide employees with the right to request remote work, the updating of the rural housing guidelines, the provision of funding to support the revitalisation of towns and villages, the adaptation of town centres for outdoor socialising, the publication of Ireland’s first ever national outdoor recreation strategy, an increase in the number of places on the rural social scheme, Tús and community employment schemes to support rural communities, implementation of the new €70 million transitional LEADER programme for community-led rural development for the period 2021 to 2022, and the development of nine new regional enterprise plans to support jobs in the regions. This is just a brief overview and the full 2021 work programme will be published shortly.

Partnership and participation have been watchwords of Our Rural Future since my Department began developing the policy. We have committed to maintaining an ongoing dialogue with rural Ireland to ensure our policy is responsive to the needs and opportunities emerging. We will run a series of rural ideas fora, the outcomes of which will feed directly back into the subsequent year's work programme. This feedback loop will enable Our Rural Future to be a living document that is active and not static, anticipates trends rather than reacts to them, and is owned by the people of rural Ireland and does not dictate to them. This goes back to the key ethos of ground up and not top down. I passionately believe consultation and working with local communities is the best recipe for success.

Our Rural Future recognises both that rural Ireland is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental well-being and development, and the fundamental role it can play in Ireland’s economic recovery and future growth.

The measures that will be delivered over the next five years will benefit individuals, families, communities and businesses. It will enhance the well-being and quality of life of people living in rural areas. The pandemic has given us a unique, once in a generation opportunity to attract people back to rural Ireland. Our Rural Future is about seizing that opportunity. I know I will have this committee's support and input in doing that and I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss in more detail the policy here today and I look forward to hearing members' views.