Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Tá áthas orm go bhfuil deis agam cúpla focal a rá anseo sa Seanad faoi chúrsaí forbartha tuaithe. Agus fadhbanna san eacnamaíocht domhanda, tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach nach gcaillfimid ár misneach agus go bhfeicfimid go bhfuil deiseanna iontacha fós ann, ach cur chuige. Ar an tráth seo, go mórmhór, tá deiseanna i bhforbairt tuaithe de bharr go bhfuil clár nua forbartha tuaithe, an ceann is mó riamh, tosaithe. Dé Máirt seo caite, d'fhógair mé na grúpaí agus an maoiniú a bhfaighfidh siad chun a gcuid pleananna faoin gclár forbartha tuaithe 2007-2013 a reachtáil.

Nuair a bhíonn dúshláin ann, is ea a chruthaíonn daoine a gcumas. In ainneoin na ndúshlán atá ann, creidim go bhfuil sé de chumas ag pobal na tuaithe leas a bhaint as na deiseanna atá ann agus forbairt mhór a dhéanamh sna blianta beaga atá romhainn. Tá go leor acmhainní nádúrtha faoin tuath nach bhfuil leas iomlán bainte astu agus orthu siúd tá an t-áineas mara agus tuaithe a bhféadfaí forbairt mhór a dhéanamh orthu agus go mbeidh mise ag obair leis na pobail tuaithe le forbairt sna blianta beaga atá romhainn.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak in the Seanad about rural development. There is no question that this is a time of great challenge but it is also a time of great opportunity and it is very important we focus on the opportunities as a method of overcoming the challenges we face. Despite the downturn in the economy and the huge challenges faced particularly by those involved in the building industry in rural Ireland, there are also huge untapped opportunities. It is our obligation now to focus on these opportunities and to ensure the work done in recent years on rural development is consolidated.

Last Tuesday, I was delighted to announce the allocations of funding to local action groups under axes 3 and 4 of the new rural development programme. Starting this month, this programme will inject €425.4 million of State and European finance into the rural economy. This, matched with another €600 million of community and private finance, means there will be a boost to the rural economy of €1 billion over the coming five years. This is three times as much as the previous rural development programme and is the largest ever package for rural development in the history of the State.

The €425.4 million in funding will be channelled through 36 new and integrated local action groups to the continued development of rural communities all over Ireland. Their applications were evaluated by independent consultants, Fitzpatrick and Associates, under various criteria. The allocation of funding to each group was based on these criteria as well as on both population and rurality, so that we can ensure the funding granted is directly related to need. Each of these local action groups will distribute funding to community groups and individuals in rural areas for the range of varied activities, including diversification into non-agricultural activities, support for business creation, encouragement of tourism activities, basic services for the economy and rural population, village renewal and development, conservation and upgrading of rural heritage, and training and information.

This rural development programme will have a particular focus on the opportunities of indigenous small-scale industry, particularly in the small food sector. Even in the present atmosphere of global economic restraint, the food sector continues to thrive. Today there are an estimated 320 businesses producing artisan and speciality food in Ireland. Together, our producers have a combined turnover of €450 million. That means €450 million in sales value to 320 small and speciality food producers throughout Ireland.

Importantly, our sales are growing by at least 12% per annum, reflecting the growing market demand for artisan and speciality food. My Department will continue to provide support for artisan and speciality food production in Ireland under the new rural development programme 2007-2013. Among other things, this funding will support niche speciality food provision, farm shops and farmers' markets.

Particular emphasis will also be placed on rural recreation under this new rural development programme. When we consider the continuing urbanisation of Europe and even of our own country, it is clear there are significant opportunities in rural recreation still untapped. We are lucky to have one of the most diverse and beautiful countrysides, relative to our size, of any country, with beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes and a general landscape that largely remains undeveloped in terms of the potential of rural recreation. I believe there is an unparalleled opportunity to develop those assets through the rural recreation policy of my Department and through the Leader programme.

I wish to outline the practicalities of some of the progress achieved in rural recreation to date. I made provision this year for funding for Coillte Teoranta, which owns 7.5% of the land mass of the country, in recognition of its important role in the provision of rural recreation. My Department is currently completing a partnership agreement with Coillte to improve the management of recreation services across the country and to develop diverse products on its lands including scrambler bikes, riding, hiking, loop walks, wilderness, etc. Coillte Teoranta has been proactive in this regard in the past year and many useful developments have taken place.

My Department, with Fáilte Ireland, the National Trails Office and others, assisted Coillte Teoranta in the organisation of the first ever National Trails Day to enhance awareness and use of our trails. National Trails Day took place on Sunday, 28 September last and more than 70 events were organised countrywide. It was a great success and I look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength in the coming years. The National Trails Day activities were mirrored in the North where the forest service there held an open day on its forest trails to highlight the rural recreation facilities in that part of the island of Ireland.

Other important developments by State agencies include the Coillte welcome initiative and Coillte Outdoors website to attract walkers and cyclists to use Coillte's recreational facilities around the country. I encourage everyone to visit this website, www.coillteoutdoors.ie. I am sure people will be pleasantly surprised by the number and range of beautiful walks and activities available free of charge all around the country.

Discussions are taking place with larnród Éireann and community groups on the development of the Limerick to Tralee railway line as a cycle-walkway. There are also huge possibilities for the development of totally abandoned railway lines as cycle-walkways and my Department will, in the coming months, develop a programme to try to facilitate that. Such development depends on the goodwill and the assistance of landowners and we will be seeking this confident in the knowledge that the rural community see the advantage of such developments.

This year has seen the institution of the new walks scheme, which I launched in early March. I thank farmers and landowners for their enthusiastic participation in this scheme that is facilitating the development and maintenance of a high quality network of walks throughout the country. Under the scheme, landholders receive payment for the development, maintenance and enhancement of approved national waymarked ways, NWMW, and looped walking routes that pass through their land or, alternatively, their maintenance under the rural social scheme. Participation in the scheme is optional and access is granted by the permission of the landholder. The measure is based on mutual agreement and co-operation. This is a win-win situation for everybody as it gives people living in rural Ireland not alone new opportunities but also ensures the maintenance of the walkways to a high quality.

We took a large step forward this year with the appointment of 12 rural recreation officers. An integral part of their role will be to promote walking tourism in areas where there are clusters of suitable, accessible walks. The rural recreation officer will act as a contact person for walking tourists and will provide a wide range of support and advice. These officers will provide vital support in rolling out the walks scheme.

I have provided approximately €650,000 in capital funding to Fáilte Ireland this year to assist in the development of the national network of looped walks to a total of 50 trailheads and more than 80 Loops in 19 counties. We expect to have at least one looped walk in each county by the end of this year. It is interesting and heartening to see Fáilte Ireland's figures for walking tourism from overseas visitors, as they reflect a dramatic increase in the numbers of tourists coming to Ireland to walk. The number has grown from a low of 168,000 in 2003 in the wake of the foot and mouth crisis to 511,000 in 2007. As we make more progress, we want to see the increase in the numbers of people walking, hiking, cycling and involved in water-based activities sustained. Walking is an activity that suits people of all ages and fitness levels and has social and health benefits for all of us. Rural areas have a clear advantage in the area of walking tourism and this rural tourism contributes to more diverse and vibrant rural communities in which people live and do not just visit at weekends.

The measures we are taking in co-operation with local communities are being developed to facilitate agreed access to the countryside and the development of rural recreation. All this work is about improving the quality of rural recreation product available to market to overseas visitors and to attract our own communities to avail of the social and economic benefits of rural recreation.

In September, I had a meeting with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, and Ms Michelle Gildernew, the Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Rural Development. That was a very positive meeting and I hope we will be able to develop a joint all-Ireland approach to the development of trails in order that we will have a seamless product to put on the international tourism market. All-island co-operation makes sense, as people who visit Ireland from abroad tend to see it as one geographic unit and it is now marketed as such through Tourism Ireland.

I also had a very constructive meeting in September in Scotland with my counterpart, Mr. Richard Lochhead, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, who was very positive about sharing knowledge and best practice with us in order that we can learn from the experiences in Scotland, just as we will assist them in any way with information regarding the approach been taken in this jurisdiction.

Rural recreation should not be confined to the land and I will work with my colleague, the Minister for the Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on the development of rural recreation on the lakes and rivers of Ireland. These, traditionally, have been a source of interest to many people, however, there is room for further expansion. Angling and water sports are growing interests with many people and there are still huge untapped resources on our lakes and rivers. As Minister with responsibility for Waterways Ireland, along with my counterpart in Northern Ireland, Mr. Gregory Campbell, MLA, we are determined to continue to develop the inland waterways of Ireland for leisure purposes. Next year we will see the opening of the Royal Canal connecting Dublin to the Shannon and this will be a major milestone in the restoration of our waterways. Work is progressing on the development of the Ulster Canal and we are on target to achieve the opening of the first section of this canal by 2012. This section will open the canal from the Erne to Clones. Once this section is completed further, examination will be given to the further development of the canal until it eventually links Lough Neagh to Lough Erne, which will mean we will have continuous waterway from Limerick to the North Sea near Coleraine.

Around the coasts of Ireland we have some of the most interesting seas, which are a haven for those interested in water sports of every type, from diving to surfboarding to yachting. Traditionally, we have undervalued the oceans around us and I believe there is a unique opportunity for us with the Volvo ocean race coming to Galway in 2009 to exploit the incredible resource that our coastline gives us for marine leisure. I will work with my colleagues in the coming years to ensure this potential is tapped. I believe that 2009 will be a watershed year in this regard, with the putting in place of a clear vision of how we can proceed with the development in an orderly way of marine leisure around our coasts.

Given what has happened in other countries, there are huge untapped resources in the private sector in this regard. I believe the role of Government in regard to rural development and marine leisure is to be one of facilitator investing where necessary but, in particular, encouraging the private sector to invest in the development of services, infrastructure and employment by creating the right circumstances for same. I am confident that under the new rural development programme, Exchequer and European Union funding, in combination with private investment, will ensure that, together, we will continue on our journey to see rural Ireland realise its potential.

I compliment the Seanad on having this debate, which is my first opportunity to speak in the Houses of the Oireachtas about the new rural development programme. At a time when many people are somewhat downbeat, looking at the two big areas of development, namely, people and natural resources, we have both in rural Ireland and this could be a time of expansion there when many other people are talking about contraction.