Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Our Rural Future is the whole of Government policy for sustainable rural development in Ireland. Published in March 2021, it contains more than 170 measures for delivery, for both short-term recovery and longer-term economic and social development as well as environmental and cultural wellbeing.

Structured updates on policy implementation are regularly provided through six-monthly Progress Reports and annual Work Programmes. The development of Annual Work Programmes allows for revised priorities, including new measures and actions, in light of emerging opportunities and challenges.

The Fifth Progress Report to year end 2023 and the 2024 Work Programme are currently being finalised, and will be published over the coming weeks. Previous progress reports, including the latest published report to June end 2023, along with the annual work programmes are available on my department's website: www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/c6f5d-our-rural-future/.

We have now entered year 4 of the implementation phase of Our Rural Future, and I am delighted at the level of progress to date across all contributing departments. This provides an ongoing demonstration of this Government’s continued commitment to rural Ireland. I am grateful to my colleagues in Government for the high and sustained level of engagement across their departments to support the policy’s ambition.

As we draw closer to the conclusion of Our Rural Future at the end of 2025, my Department is beginning the process of developing a successor policy. To support and inform this process, in December last I commissioned the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to conduct an independent review of rural policy in Ireland. The review will be undertaken between now and Quarter 2 of 2025, with officials in my Department liaising with the OECD for the duration of the review.