Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The action plan for rural development that will be launched next week will facilitate that. Our Department is feeding into that and has already fed into that. We have had numerous meetings at official and ministerial level. The Minister and I, along with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Minister of State for regional economic development, Deputy Ring, have had numerous discussions around this to make it happen. It is about breathing life back into these areas but also guaranteeing a life into the future because the problems in many of these towns and villages in rural areas did not just happen as a result of the recession or the downturn in construction over the past seven, eight or ten years. This has been going back 20 or 30 years so we need a co-ordinated way to make this happen and local authorities engaging with local bodies and agencies to make it happen is central. We also need long-term thinking of the kind found in Ireland in 2040: A National Planning Framework to make sure it is sustainable into the future and that it is not just a temporary solution to a housing difficulty we have because that is the wrong way to approach it. Yes, there are loads of vacant buildings and if people want to live there, that is a major part of what we can do. We have a budget allocated to make that happen but it is far more than that. The plan launched next week will be interesting and will be the basis upon which we will work. Our Departments are working very closely on this because it is the right thing to do and is in the programme for Government. We can achieve what Deputy Harty has set out. That is our aim so we are at one on that.

See this speech in context