Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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76. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide an update on the progress of the Our Rural Future programme. [53398/22]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The reality of the situation is that Ireland is one of the most lopsided countries on the planet. We have a city that is radically overheating at the moment. We have a commuter belt that is sprawling into Ulster, Munster and Connacht, where people are travelling two and three hours into Dublin to go to work. Every year, we have rural areas where the population of young people is reducing. That is not a sustainable process and these are not viable communities. They do not have necessary investment into infrastructure, such as broadband, roads, rail and all of the business and enterprise investments that they need. They cannot live on these handouts over long periods.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Our Rural Future 2021-2025 is the most ambitious rural development policy for Ireland in decades. It was published in March 2021 and contains more than 150 measures across the whole of Government for both short-term recovery and long-term development.

Delivery of the Our Rural Future rural development policy is monitored through a series of work programmes and progress reports. The second progress report was published in August 2022 and covered delivery in the first half of this year. It contained updates on 148 of the 312 actions in the 2022 work programme and included contributions from 22 Departments or agencies. Some 35 of these actions were of an ongoing nature. Of the remaining 113 actions, which were due for delivery in the first half of 2022, a total of 82, or 72%, were completed. Work is under way on the third progress report, which will cover the second half of 2022.

I acknowledge the very enthusiastic engagement and inputs from across Government in respect of the implementation of Our Rural Future. My officials will shortly begin bilateral consultations with relevant Departments in preparation for the work programme for 2023. The development of these annual work programmes allows for priorities to be updated in light of emerging opportunities and challenges and the introduction of brand new measures to the overall Our Rural Future policy.

I am confident that the publication of these documents will demonstrate continued commitment to realising the ambitions of Our Rural Future in delivering this Government's vision for rural Ireland. I will finish at that.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I will give the Minister the evidence. I understand that the north and the west of this island have been downgraded to lagging region status under the Government. That is an incredible assessment from the European Union in relation to what the north and the west are undergoing at the moment. I am referring to the agreement that has unlocked funding through the bloc's cohesion policy. I have asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform whether he will confirm that the two regions have been downgraded or to release the relevant document to me. However, he has point-blank refused to do so.

This is very important. I also understand that these regions, which include the Minister's county, have been ranked at 177 out of 240 European regions. That is a damning indictment of the policy that this Government is involved in. Those areas, in European terms, are seeing a reduction in the level of development and competition that happens there. When the Government gives grants and make communities dependent for €10,000 here or there, that does not lift their viability for families to be able to earn an income and raise children there and young people to able to stay there and do exactly the same.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There has been multimillion euro investment in rural Ireland. Through the RRDF, there has been millions of euro invested in town centre regeneration projects and the conversion of old, derelict buildings into remote working hubs. There has been investment through the town and village streetscape enhancement initiative, which is now looking at repurposing whole buildings.

I spoke to local authority chief executives yesterday. They said very clearly that there has been unprecedented investment in rural Ireland and it is working and paying off. There are many different avenues for communities and local authorities to draw down money from central government. It is about the bottom-up approach and people identifying opportunities, weaknesses in their community, looking for funding to address those weaknesses and building on the strengths.

The population in rural areas is increasing. More and more young people are coming back to live and work in their home areas.

We have been able to afford them that opportunity through remote working. More than €100 million has been spent on remote working facilities.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I ask the Minister to address the fact that these two areas have been downgraded to lagging region status. She should ignore the core performance indicator of her Government. It is not just or fair to citizens living in the counties in the western and northern parts of this country that we are having this conversation. The Minister is not going to admit that the European Union has downgraded those areas to 177th place out of 240. Only for the Business Postreleasing this information, we would not know it. Will the Minister release to the citizens of Ireland the document the European Union has provided in order that we can have transparent government and see why the European Union is downgrading regions of Ireland in terms of their ability to compete? That is the measure of how people can live. More people are returning to some rural areas and regions, but the driving force behind that has been Covid. The driving force has been the fact that people cannot live in Dublin any more because the cost of doing so has gone through the roof.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There has been €100 million in investment-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is a fact that people cannot get their kids into a school and they are stuck in traffic for hours every day. The driving force is that there is no quality of living because the city has become overheated; it is not that the Government is throwing a few bob here and there to the peasants in order that they can open a community centre or this, that or the other. That is the wrong way to proceed and it shows no respect for rural communities.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's choice of language is very insulting to rural communities across the country.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Government's policy is insulting.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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No, it is not. The Government policy is working.We have spent more than €100 million on remote working facilities. We have 295 remote working facilities. I was in Donegal-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Minister should address the issue of the lagging regions. I asked a question on that.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I was in a remote working hub in Donegal not too long ago. A person there had returned home from America to live with their family and to work remotely.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I ask the Minister to address the issue of the lagging regions.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I was in Bree, County Wexford, where two people had come back from Australia to live in their community. They are working for Australian companies from a remote working hub supported by funding from my Department.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I do not want to be rude, but can the Minister answer the question I asked?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There are issues in certain areas. We will examine them and deal with them.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Will the Minister release the document?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I do not have a copy of the report to release, so I cannot give the Deputy an answer on that. What I can tell him-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That should be-----

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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-----is that where there are problems, we will address them. When I was Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Border area was way behind every other area, so we developed a Border regional development fund. This is a specific fund for the six counties along the Border and it has worked. Employment in those regions has increased. Where there are issues or difficulties, we will look at them and address them.