Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her and other Government Departments will have to introduce Supplementary Estimates to provide in 2017 for the promises in the recent action plan for rural development; the reason there was no detailed costing in the plan of the extra Exchequer expenditure that will be required in the coming years, over and above that already provided for, as a result of the plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4170/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government's Action Plan for Rural Development which was launched on 23rd January will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives right across Government which will benefit rural Ireland. The Plan contains over 270 actions to be delivered by a range of Government Departments, State agencies and other bodies.

The Plan includes details of the key investments which will be made to support rural development over the three-year period of the Plan – and beyond that time frame in some cases.

The actions in this Plan represent firm commitments from Government Departments and agencies to support rural Ireland. In line with normal procedures, it will be a matter for individual Government Departments to secure the funding required on a year-by-year basis as part of the annual Estimates process.

As far as my own Department is concerned, I do not foresee the need for a supplementary Estimate this year. Funding for regional and rural programmes in my Department’s Estimate has increased from €61.2 million in 2016, to €79.2 million in 2017 – an increase of 29%. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to rural development and will allow for the funding of schemes such as the CLÁR programme and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. The increased funding will be complemented by the work of other areas of my Department, much of which has a positive impact on rural Ireland.

It is important to bear in mind that many of the commitments in the Action Plan for Rural Development involve new policy initiatives which will not necessarily require additional funding to have a positive impact – for example the development of a new and effective framework for rural proofing Government policies, or the development, for the first time ever, of a National Policy on Social Enterprise.