Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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424. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the manner in which the Action Plan for Rural Development will impact on County Meath; and the way in which it will affect and improve broadband in rural County Meath. [4345/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Rural Development provides a framework of supports to improve the lives of people who live and work in rural Ireland. It is the first Plan of its kind to address both the economic and social needs of rural Ireland through a whole-of-Government approach. The Plan contains over 270 actions, all of which aim to support rural communities throughout the country. These actions are spread over five thematic pillars aimed at:

- Supporting Sustainable Communities,

- Supporting Enterprise and Employment,

- Maximising our Rural Tourism and Recreation Potential,

- Fostering Culture and Creativity in rural communities, and

- Improving Rural Infrastructure and Connectivity.

Initiatives under the Plan will be rolled out by various Government Departments and State agencies, and will benefit all rural communities, including those in Co. Meath.

One of the objectives outlined in the Action Plan for Rural Development is to bring high speed broadband to every premises in Ireland through the rollout of the National Broadband Plan (NBP). Under the NBP, 1.4m premises in Ireland now have access to high speed broadband, with investment by telecoms companies continuing. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is in a procurement process to bring high speed broadband to those premises where services will not be provided by telecoms companies. In tandem with this, the Government is taking immediate steps to accelerate and facilitate the rollout of broadband and mobile phone services by implementing the recommendations of the report of the Taskforce on Mobile Phone and Broadband Access which was published last December.

Full details of these actions are contained in the Action Plan for Rural Development, which is available on .

Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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425. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to the recent launch of the action plan for rural development, her plans to include the town of Rathkeale, County Limerick by way of an enhanced town and village renewal scheme, in view of the need for the provision of moneys for the rejuvenation of the town centre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4360/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Rural Development contains a number of measures which have the objective of rejuvenating Ireland’s rural towns and villages to make them more attractive places in which to live and work and to increase their tourism potential. As part of Budget 2017, I have secured funding of €12 million for an enhanced Town and Village Renewal scheme this year. This represents a trebling of the original 2016 baseline allocation of €4 million for the scheme.

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme for 2017 will be launched shortly, and towns and villages to be included in the scheme, including in County Limerick, will be selected through an application and assessment process.  The scheme will be funded by my Department and administered by the Local Authorities.

Full details of the scheme and the application process will be made available when the scheme is launched.