Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to raise an issue concerning the national planning framework. Given the spatial imbalance of the national planning framework and its failure to include measures to address rural decline, I would like details on the specific metrics, processes and methodologies that were used to rural-proof the plan throughout all stages of development. I would also like to know which stakeholders contributed to that process.

This Government claims to have strong rural credentials. It claims that it is committed to ensuring that the interests of rural communities and businesses are equitably accounted for in planning, policies and programmes. However, that is not evident in Project Ireland 2040. There is little or no evidence that this plan was subjected to a robust process of rural-proofing. There is absolutely no trace of any rural-proofing having taken place. Rural counties and rural regions like the midlands have been left behind. There is a 9.3% unemployment rate in the midlands. It is one of the poorest regions in this State and yet it is left behind in this planning framework. I know that there has been criticism across the parties about this very issue. Towns in the midlands like Tullamore, Portlaoise and Mullingar have been overlooked. We have seen stroke politics in action in this planning framework and that is not good enough. It is not fair. We need accountability, transparency and fairness to all regions.

Rural-proofing is not an abstract idea. It is a systematic process of stress-testing proposals to ascertain whether or not they will achieve critical targeted outcomes in rural areas. The rural-proofing of policy and its implementation are important in ensuring that Government policies show an understanding of and take into account the specific characteristics that exist in rural areas. This systematic impact assessment approach is informed by statistical data and analysis from a range of sources as well as qualitative and quantitative processes of inquiry carried out with key rural stakeholders in the public, non-governmental organisation, NGO, private and community sectors.

The process of rural-proofing should be started at an early stage. Policymakers and analysts should work collaboratively to identify intended or unintended impacts and how policies differ from their application in the urban context. In summary, it is an evidence-based process which robustly provides the foundation for rural investment decisions and the suitability of solutions which affect the rural economy, agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, employment creation, demographic trends, access to rural services and infrastructure. Rural Ireland is not a homogenous non-urban hinterland and solutions for coastal and island regions will vary substantially from those in the Border area. They will differ again from those in the midlands region.

Rural-proofing is therefore a sophisticated process which tests proposals in a diverse range of geographical scenarios and differing socio-economic contexts. This plan should have been rural-proofed at all stages of development and it should have been reflective of the issues that need to be addressed. As I have said before, the midlands is left behind. Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that my county of Offaly has the third lowest disposable income in the State. It is not good enough that we are being left behind again and I speak for the regions. Looking at investment driven by the Industrial Development Authority, IDA, there has been a net loss of 198 jobs in Longford. Laois has gained four additional jobs and Offaly 26. I have raised this issue a number of times. What I seek from the Minister of State is this: I want to know what rural-proofing was done and what he intends to do, because for job creation to have reached 12% of the target of 135,000 jobs is not good enough or acceptable.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Carol Nolan for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to clarify any misconceptions about the relevance of the national planning framework to rural communities. I have been involved in the strategy throughout its development. It is a document which will help stop decline in many rural areas, and can actually save rural Ireland. I addressed that at the Committee on Rural and Community Development, where we discussed this draft plan last October or November. Deputy Nolan was also at that meeting.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I was and I raised some concerns at that meeting.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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That is correct and we had a very good discussion there. A lot of changes were made following the committee meetings. Those meetings fed into the plan, and rightly so.

I want to start by saying that the national planning framework is a national plan. It has a high-level ambition of creating a single vision, a shared set of goals for every community across the country and of delivering these in a way that makes sense for our communities, rural and urban alike. Let us get that joined up. We must recognise that very often rural and urban areas are intertwined and depend on each other. As a TD, I represent two counties, County Meath and County Westmeath. In the constituency there are large towns like Navan and Trim and many rural villages like Castlepollard, Oldcastle, Delvin and Fore. There are many TDs who represent urban and rural areas, just like Deputy Nolan, and we understand that.

Likewise, the Department that led this, my Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, very much understands the breakdown of urban and rural areas, how they are linked and dependent on each other and how one can help the other. That was the logic guiding our plan from the start. I hope people can understand that.

The national planning framework recognises the need for sustainable and co-ordinated development of our towns, villages and rural communities. To this end, regional, spatial and economic strategies will also be developed. Three strategies will be developed from of the national plan. Work has started on them this year and will finish in 2019. These plans will link strategic national planning and investment with regional-scaled physical planning and the local economic and community development functions of local authorities. Each local authority will develop its own county development plan and will also be able to set out its own ambitions for its urban and rural areas in order to develop both. That is what we want them to do.

In fact, a full chapter of the national planning framework is dedicated to planing for diverse rural places, which builds from the Government's action plan for rural development. This recognises that rural areas continue to undergo change due to economic restructuring arising from a more globalised economy, a move away from traditional agriculture and the influence of increased mobility and easier access to urban centres. Again, I make it very clear. People often say that rural Ireland is not functioning, or is dead and gone. However, I refer to Westport or Clonakilty, two rural areas that are thriving because they had a plan and a logic. That is what we are asking for in the national planning framework, through the regional plan and the county plans; that there is a plan for a county, a rural village, a rural area or a town. The authorities must put a plan in place and make it happen.

It does not happen by just clicking one's fingers. One must plan for it, allow for it and fund it. Likewise, as for getting jobs into any county, we want to create the environment whereby jobs can be created. That is what we are trying to do by having this long-term plan for 20 to 25 years. Many of those towns I have just listed had long-term plans. For example, Portlaoise has a great plan for the town centre, which will help with investment into Portlaoise and win jobs for all areas of the town. Plans like that can now be funded.

Consultation and participation was key to the finalisation of the national planning framework. The national planning framework document maps this consultation process, starting in October 2014, when Government approval was given to commence drafting. There were two formal phases of public consultation during drafting - February and March of 2017 and October and November of 2017 - with over 40 regional events and workshops, many of which I attended and which involved both urban and rural agencies. There were four engagements with various Oireachtas joint committees, including the rural affairs committee, feedback from an expert advisory group and detailed submissions from a range of stakeholders, with every relevant Department and agency represented. In addition, development of the national planning framework was informed by a strategic environmental assessment. All of the submissions have been published on the national planning framework website. In the last round of consultation, there were more than 1,000 submissions, including 150 from Oireachtas Members, councillors and others involved in politics, and many members of the Deputy's party contributed to this. Every submission was looked at and used, and this fed into all of the changes made in the past couple of months.

I assure the Deputy that the consultation process and research used to underpin the plan were detailed and extensive. Development was supported by technical analysis, statistics, census data and other relevant research, including work carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI. The process was led by my Department and overseen by a high-level cross-departmental steering group, which had its first meeting in March 2016 and included representatives from what is now the Department of Rural and Community Development. The evidence base underpinning the national planning framework includes the ESRI research study, entitled "Prospects for Irish regions and counties: scenarios and implications", which is available on the ESRI's website.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response but I am very disappointed with it because I feel he is missing the point. He said he is a rural Deputy but he and I both know there has been rural neglect, and while it has not happened today or yesterday, it needs to be addressed. That is what we are all trying to do. As a rural Deputy, I feel very strongly about this issue and I believe the Government has let us down. I will explain why. The Government has failed to reach its own rural development targets over the past two years. To take job creation, just 12% of the targeted 135,000 jobs outside of Dublin have been created to date. How will the Government get the rest of the jobs - the other 88% - created before 2020? To take expenditure on the Leader programme, just 0.3% of the budget has been spent to date. It is not reaching the ground in rural communities, which are suffering because they are without this money. Rural broadband is a perfect example. The Minister of State talks about areas preparing plans to push things forward. How can one do that in the absence of rural broadband? We are being let down time and time again. These are clear, factual examples. Rural housing targets also have not been achieved and nothing is happening in regard to rural resettlement.

We need to do more. It is about achieving balance among all of the regions. I put it to the Minister of State that not enough is being done and, in particular, not enough rural-proofing has been done on this plan. I urge the Minister of State to look at this again. I brought forward my concerns at the committee meeting in regard to the IDA not tackling job creation effectively in the regions. That needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy said we are missing the point but I think she is the one who is missing the point.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I am not missing anything.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The rural decline which has happened in many counties, and which we have seen in so many villages, happened over 20 or 30 years because there was no plan or ambition.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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We need vision.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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There was no vision. We are asking that, through the national planning framework, such a vision would be set out for urban and rural Ireland and all the various cities and towns. There would be the three regional plans and the county plans and we can then make it happen and put funding in place to achieve that. There was no plan or vision and that is why there was decline. We are trying to correct that although it will not happen in two or three years. These are long-term commitments backed up by the Government and its Departments and agencies, all of which are involved and can make that happen. There is endless opportunity for ambition for Offaly, Portlaoise and the other areas represented by the Deputy. The key point is to take the opportunity to make it happen.

As I mentioned earlier, there will be further opportunities to elaborate on the national planning framework at regional and local levels through the regional spatial strategies. Consequently, it is important that people work hard on them and get them right. The preparation has begun in each of the three regions and that work will end in early 2019, to be followed by the various city and county plans. This is where policies and opportunities in regard to specific places can be fleshed out. In addition, the Action Plan for Rural Development, published on 23 January 2017, takes a whole-of-Government approach, led by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, to the economic and social development of rural Ireland and will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of rural initiatives across Departments and other public bodies. This will be underpinned by a new rural regeneration and development fund to be established under the Department of Rural and Community Development, which will invest an additional €1 billion in supporting rural renewal. That €1 billion is new money and it will be invested in rural Ireland.

There is now a whole-of-Government approach to the development of our country, our regions, our urban centres and our wider rural areas, rightly so. The Government believes the combination of the national planning framework and the national development plan represents a major opportunity for rural Ireland. I reiterate that if we stick to this plan and drive it and the regional plans, they can save rural Ireland. This is the best way to do it. It is wrong to say that only 12% of the jobs have been created. Over 70% of the jobs created in the past two years are outside of Dublin, and that is a fact. The rural action plans for jobs have worked, as have the regional plans. While the Deputy might not like to admit it, the data are there to back it up. We are committed to rural Ireland and will remain committed to it for the next 25 years through Ireland 2040. That is our job. The Government is planning long-term to save rural Ireland.