Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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55. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the development of the rural proofing model promised in Our Rural Future – Rural Development Policy 2021–2025; the status of the assessment of international best practice in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50139/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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‘Our Rural Future,’ the Government’s national rural development policy, is an ambitious blueprint for rural development in Ireland over the next five years which has the potential to have a transformative effect on rural communities.

Through the Policy, the Government has a vision to breathe new life into rural areas through delivery of more than 150 policy commitments focusing on long-term sustainability, and optimising services and opportunities for individuals, communities and businesses in rural Ireland.

Among these is a commitment to develop an effective rural proofing model to ensure the needs of rural communities are considered in the development of Government policies. The published 2021 Our Rural Future Work Programme commits to initiating a scoping exercise for the development of such a mechanism. My Department has recently issued a tender for work to be undertaken to research possible approaches and best practice in regard to rural proofing models which can then be applied in the Irish context. This important piece of research will serve to underpin my Department's approach to rural proofing.