Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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84. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will give an update on the report on the rural proofing pilots; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40650/24]

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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After the publication of the Department's research on rural proofing last year, which is available online, it was decided to undertake a number of Rural Proofing Pilots across Government. This included the National Planning Framework review, the development of the new Sustainable Tourism Policy, the development of the new National Hubs Strategy, and the development of the new Social Enterprise Strategy, which was published in July.

It is worth noting that a form of rural proofing is already taking place. For example, Memoranda for Government which contain significant policy proposals including legislation, must indicate the impact, if any, of the proposals on rural communities. In addition, officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development are engaged on a number of cross departmental groups, which serves to support the inclusion of a rural perspective into policy development.

The aim of the rural proofing process has been to gain a better understanding of how we can build on this existing activity to further strengthen the consideration and incorporation of rural challenges and opportunities into the policy development process. The experience of the pilots has strengthened our view that rural proofing is not a policy or a model. Rather, rural proofing is a process to be undertaken which leads to better policies.

Key lessons from the pilots include

• There is a need to support Government Department’s understanding of what may fall within the term ‘rural area’
• There is a need to support Government Departments in accessing statistical data on rural areas
• The importance of early and targeted consultation with rural communities as part of the rural proofing process.
• The policy making process should include very specific consideration of issues relating to both the needs and potential of rural communities when developing policies.