Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question.

The Government has made clear its support for rural areas in Project Ireland 2040, which was launched last week. The overarching objective of the national planning framework, which is one of the strands of Project Ireland, is to ensure the population growth and economic growth that will take place up to 2040 will be shared more evenly across the regions.

The national planning framework specifically commits to maintaining Ireland’s rural fabric and to reversing town, village and rural population decline. It also highlights the continued potential of the traditional pillars of the rural economy in supporting job creation in areas such as tourism and agriculture as well as the opportunities that will arise through new technologies and investment.

Under the national development plan, the Government has committed to establishing a new rural regeneration and development fund, which will provide an additional €1 billion over the next ten years to support rural renewal and reduce population decline in rural towns and villages. Other funding streams in the national development plan, across sectors such as transport, tourism, energy and communications, will also support rural towns and villages.

My Department will continue to deliver schemes such as the town and village renewal scheme, Leader and the CLÁR programme. CLÁR is a targeted capital investment programme for rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation. Over the past two years, over €1.1 million has been allocated to County Donegal under the CLÁR programme.

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