Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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708. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to ensure the viability and sustainability of towns and villages in rural Ireland that have lost or are losing the local post office such as Borris, County Carlow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11241/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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‘Our Rural Future’,Ireland's Rural Development Policy 2021 – 2025 creates an overarching vision for a thriving rural Ireland which is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing and development. Additionally in February of last year the 'Town Centre First'Policy was published, a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres.

While responsibility for the postal sector rests with the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications, the above policies represent the Government's blueprint to ensure the viability and sustainability of rural towns and villages.

My Department's mission is to promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. We do this by delivering a wide range of strategic interventions and investments throughout the country. In 2022 my Department had a budget allocation of €379 million which supported rural and community development, including through investment in infrastructure and initiatives assisting the retention and attraction of jobs throughout the regions. This will continue in 2023.

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme is one such measure that supports the revitalisation of rural Ireland. Last year, I was delighted to confirm a total funding package of €28.5m across the various strands of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme to support a wide range of projects across rural Ireland.

The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund has an allocation of €60m for 2023. To date, 215 projects have been approved for funding of €395 million for projects costing €542 million throughout rural Ireland.

The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme is another important area of investment with an allocation for 2023 of €16 million. The allocation for this Scheme has increased year on year since 2020, and the projects funded will be key enablers of the recently launched National Outdoor Recreation Strategy, Embracing Ireland's Outdoors.

Similarly, I was delighted to introduce significant new supports for the development of community centres across the country last year, while the CLÁR programme and the Local Improvement Scheme continue to deliver important projects in rural communities across the country each year.

Scheme priorities are reviewed at the end of each scheme year and this process is at an advanced stage in respect of planning for our 2023 schemes. As part of this process, I am anxious to ensure that the range of schemes offered by my Department continue to be structured in a way that ensures clear coherence, shows alignment with key policies such as Our Rural Future and the Town Centre First policy, and that delivers real and tangible benefits for communities. Scheduling of scheme announcements for 2023 is currently under review by my officials and I expect to be in a position to announce details of my Department's rural regeneration schemes shortly.