Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for his impassioned speech, although I will not respond to everything he said. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who, together with the Taoiseach, myself and several other Ministers, got a great welcome in the Ballymahon library from the cathaoirleach, councillors and staff there.

The action plan for rural development builds upon the model established by the successful Action Plan for Jobs, which has seen the unemployment rate come down from 15.1% to 7.2% between 2012 and 2017. It takes a whole-of-government approach to the economic and social development of rural Ireland and acts as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives across Departments and other public bodies. The action plan was developed following a comprehensive consultation process with key rural stakeholders. In particular, a series of meetings was held with sectoral interests in rural areas, including farming and fishing organisations, Teagasc, Macra na Feirme, Údarás na Gaeltachta, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Chambers Ireland, the Western Development Commission, the Association of Irish Local Government, Irish Rural Link and Waterways Ireland. These meetings were supplemented by six structured workshops held across the country with representatives from local community groups, local government, rural stakeholder groups and relevant State bodies and agencies.

The Minister also sought input to the action plan from our colleagues in the Oireachtas with the holding of an information session for Members during which we issued an open invitation to submit proposals for inclusion in the plan. I should point out that a number of Members and their groupings availed of this opportunity, as did the members of the Joint Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, both collectively and individually. The Minister and I would like to put on record our thanks for the submissions provided, both by Oireachtas Members and those who took part in the wider consultation process. I can assure them that their points and observations were considered during the formulation of the plan and, ultimately, helped to improve it.

That is the basis of this whole plan. It is not that the Minister sat down at her desk one day and just decided to write it out. She has consulted widely with all the stakeholders and this is the plan they imagined, drew up and formulated. I and others have put forward a number of suggestions on some measures which, thankfully, were included in the plan. We want to communicate the aims and objectives of the plan as widely as possible. The Minister has already offered to meet the joint committee to discuss the plan further and she will also address Seanad Éireann on the plan in February.

Having launched and published the plan, our attention and that of the Department will now turn to monitoring its implementation. As the Deputy will appreciate, the implementation of such a comprehensive and wide-ranging action plan, encompassing more than 270 actions, will be challenging. The action plan sets out a clear roadmap for monitoring its implementation, a process which will be overseen in the first instance by a monitoring committee to be chaired by the Minister. The membership of the committee will be comprised of representatives from the relevant Departments and State agencies, as well as representatives from key rural stakeholders and experts in the area. The Deputy will see progress reports on the website, www.ruralireland.ie.

In addition, it was announced by the Minister at the launch that she will appoint Mr. Pat Spillane to act as the ambassador for the action plan for rural development. Mr. Spillane's brief will be to encourage businesses, communities, sporting organisations and other organisations to engage with the plan. He also played a key role in the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA. The Department was resourced with additional staff for the new section when the original rural section was brought into the Department in the reconfiguration, and those staff will have key role in the implementation.

With regard to the Supplementary Estimate for the action plan, I should point out the action plan is intended to run for three years. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and I will work with our colleagues across the Government as part of the larger Estimates process to ensure there is significant investment in rural communities over this period. I note the rural development division of our Department has increased its funding by 29% when compared with the 2016 baseline, that is, from €61.2 million to €79.2 million. The action plan is the first whole-of-government approach to rural communities. It is my view that the role of all in the House is to ensure this multifaceted, cross-agency, cross-departmental plan is implemented and resourced. We look forward to the Deputy's support in regard to ensuring we get additional resources in the years ahead.

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