Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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327. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the total annual funding expended on each CEDRA programme initiative since being established, in tabular form; the 2017 budget allocations for such initiatives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6813/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA) was published in April 2014 and contained 34 recommendations to support the development of rural Ireland. Some of these recommendations had a direct associated programme cost, while others related to policy initiatives that could be taken without a direct cost to support rural economic development.

Programmes funded by my own Department which are directly related to the recommendations in the CEDRA report include the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, and the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) initiative. Expenditure on these programmes in 2015 and 2016, along with the budgetary allocation for 2017, is set out on Table 1.

The priority recommendation made by CEDRA was the need for a co-ordinated approach to rural development across Government. The assignment of responsibility to my Department for regional and rural development, and the publication of the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development address this key recommendation.

The Action Plan builds on and goes beyond the CEDRA report, by providing an overarching structure for the implementation of initiatives across Government which will address both the social and economic development of rural Ireland. The Plan also commits to progressing a number of issues which were referenced in the CEDRA report, including in areas such as social enterprise, the creative industries, rural transport, and the development of the tourism and recreation potential of rural Ireland.

In total, the Action Plan contains over 275 actions for delivery across a range of Government Departments, agencies and other bodies.

Table 1 – Funding of REDZ and Town & Village Renewal Scheme 2015-2017

*Funding for the REDZ scheme will be reviewed following an evaluation of the 2015 and 2016 programmes.