Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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71. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the new elements of the Action Plan for Rural Development that were not already in train before the launch of the plan and that will be rolled out in 2017; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11359/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Government's Act ion Plan for Rural Development was launched on 23^rdJanuary 2017. It is the first plan of its kind to take a cohesive and coordinated approach across the whole of Government to both economic and social development.

Examples of new elements of the Plan which will be rolled out in 2017 include:

- An enhanced Town and Village Renewal scheme, with funding of €12 million per annum, which represents a threefold increase on the 2016 baseline. This scheme will include a pilot initiative to encourage residential occupancy of buildings in town and village centres.

- The provision of 500 extra places on the Rural Social Scheme, which were announced by the Minister for Social Protection, Leo Varadkar, T.D., in January.

- The development of a Public Outdoor Recreation Amenities Plan to transform the provision of outdoor recreation facilities and services on public-owned land and waterways over the next five years.

- €6 million for investment in the development of Blueways over the period 2017-2019, and a capital investment of up to €10 million over four years in Ireland's six National Parks and Nature Reserves.

- The establishment of a Taskforce to process the proposal for an Atlantic Economic Corridor. The first meeting of this Taskforce took place on 6^thMarch.

- The development of a national policy on Social Enterprise.

- The development of a new and effective rural proofing model which will ensure that rural development issues are considered in the decision-making processes of all Government Departments, State bodies and agencies.

- A new Community CCTV grant scheme, which will be introduced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality.

Every action in the Action Plan has been accorded an appropriate timeline for implementation. The monitoring mechanisms set out in the Plan will oversee and drive this implementation.