Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I congratulate her on her new position in rural development. The Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, is a voluntary body that was established in November 2012 by the Ministers for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The objective of the commission is to develop a strategy to guide the medium-term economic development of rural areas for the period up to 2025.

Rural areas are defined for these purposes as "all areas located beyond the administrative boundaries of the five largest cities". All parts of the country have suffered greatly during the past few years of recession, but none more so than the rural areas that have been badly affected by unemployment and emigration. Unemployment in rural areas increased by 192% during the recession, whereas it increased by 114% in urban areas. Small and medium-sized towns were the worst affected locations. The high poverty index in rural towns dictated that one third of working-age households were rendered jobless. In small towns business after business was forced to close and main streets were left desolate and empty. While our country has emerged from recession, thankfully, rural areas are not feeling the current economic bounce as strongly as other areas. The recommendations resulting from the CEDRA report seek to remedy this. I hope this happens.

The vision statement in the CEDRA report states that "Rural Ireland will become a dynamic, adaptable and outward looking multi-sectoral economy supporting vibrant, resilient and diverse communities experiencing a high quality of life with an energised relationship between rural and urban Ireland which will contribute to its sustainability for the benefit of society as a whole". This objective can be achieved through the support of the Government and the implementation of the recommendations set out in the report. The report contains 34 recommendations to help stimulate rural economies, including: the preparation of a rural economic development policy statement; the assignation of ministerial responsibility for implementation; the encouragement of better joined-up activities by Departments, State agencies and enterprise bodies; the facilitation of bottom-up development of rural economic development zones and a rural towns stimulus programme; the improvement of rural capacity by improving skills and capacity, widening broadband capacity and enhancing services such as rural transport, roads, finance and water; the specific examination of areas like tourism, creative industries, social enterprise, artisan foods, marine and renewable energy to see how they can be leveraged to energise rural areas; and the maximisation of the potential of available funding mechanisms to support economic development in rural areas.

I commend the Government on the work it has already done to further this aim. The CEDRA report was launched in April of this year. The Taoiseach appointed a Minister of State with specific responsibility for the implementation of CEDRA in July. An interdepartmental group was appointed to achieve a more co-ordinated and integrated approach to the delivery of economic services in rural areas. The first meeting of this group took place in July, when an initial evaluation of each recommendation of the report was carried out and lead responsibility was assigned. A clear brief was requested and received from each Department regarding what was being done. The group then dealt with details and timelines relating to more specific actions and to what will be achieved by the end of 2015. The Minister of State and the members of the interdepartmental group met representatives of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Teagasc, local employment offices and local community development committees to secure their involvement in the CEDRA work programme and to develop ideas. A sub-group of the CEDRA interdepartmental group has developed a number of priority proposals with clear implementation actions to assist the economic development of rural towns and their hinterlands. The intention is to pilot a small number of initiatives to assess their viability and effectiveness in creating employment in rural towns in the short and medium terms.

I welcome the allocation of €1 million in the 2015 budget for the establishment of a rural innovation and development fund to support initiatives and small-scale pilot incentives under the CEDRA report. The provision of this stimulus funding will greatly assist this task. I welcome the Government's commitment to encourage and facilitate the continued development of rural areas. This funding is part of a wider comprehensive framework to support economic development in rural areas, including major elements of the draft rural development programme, the seafood development investment programme and the wider enterprise, capability and community development initiatives. The CEDRA report has an important role to play in further developing rural areas and helping them to prosper. Recent rural initiatives such as the Wild Atlantic Way and the proposed 1916 commemorations have again highlighted the potential of our rural areas. It is important that we do everything in our power to support our rural areas and help them to prosper. I thank the Minister of State again for coming to House. I acknowledge the work that the Minister of State and her Department have done to further the objectives of the report. I look forward to hearing further details of the progress being made by the Minister of State and the interdepartmental group in the coming weeks.