Detailed guidelines on rural proofing were provided for all Departments early last year. Rural proofing determines the likely impact of policies on the physical, economic and social conditions of the rural population. The Government is committed to maintaining the maximum number of people in rural areas and strengthening rural communities economically, socially and culturally. My Department is involved in a wide range of EU and national investment programmes to promote this objective. All the work on rural development carried out by the Department is underpinned by the White Paper on Rural Development, Ensuring the Future, published in August 1999. The rural development policy agenda is defined in the White Paper as: