Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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84. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way in which it is intended the action plan for rural development will increase social provisions in rural towns and maintain the presence of existing social provisions such as post offices, rural Garda stations and bus routes in view of the fact that these vital services are needed to attract new residents into these areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4167/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Realising our Rural Potential, the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development, takes a whole-of-Government approach to the economic and social development of rural Ireland. The Plan contains over 270 actions to be delivered by a range of Government Departments, State agencies and other bodies.

An objective of the Plan is to support sustainable communities through the enhancement of local services, including in areas such as health care, safety and security, and transport. A range of measures will be taken across various Government Departments, Agencies and other bodies to support these services in rural areas. For example:

­ The National Transport Authority will work with rural communities to assess and implement improvements to existing transport routes and develop new routes as necessary. Transport services for the off-shore islands will also be improved.

­ The HSE will increase the number of GPs in rural areas and will invest in new primary care centres and support Community Intervention Teams to facilitate the treatment of patients in their own communities.

­ The Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána will take a range of measures to address crime prevention, including by ensuring that Gardaí are mobile, visible and responsive in the community, and through schemes such as the new Community CCTV Grant Aid Scheme.

­ My own Department will oversee actions to support the Post office network, arising from the work of the Post Office Renewal Board and the Post Office Hub Working Group.

It is important, also, that we implement measures to help breathe life back into our rural towns and villages and enable them to become vibrant places where people socialise, live and work. The rejuvenation of towns and villages will be supported under the Action Plan through schemes such as the Town and Village Renewal Schemeand the CLÁR Programme. I also intend to launch a pilot scheme later in the year to encourage people to take up residential occupancy of premises in town centres.