Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1278. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development whether he intends to propose a stand-alone rural equality strategy during the lifetime of this Government. [23393/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the development and implementation of national equality policies, including those relevant to rural areas, falls under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. That Department oversees a range of policies designed to address equality issues across all sectors and regions, including on LGBTI+, Traveller and Roma inclusion, anti-racism, and gender equality. My Department actively inputs into the development of such policies regarding issues in rural communities.

Nonetheless, promoting equality is central to the objectives of Our Rural Future 2021–2025, the whole-of-Government national rural development policy which is overseen by my Department. The policy's principles are consistent with the State’s commitments to progressing human rights and equality in Ireland. It also aligns in design and implementation with the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty.

Our Rural Future emphasises the importance of ensuring people living in rural areas have equitable access to services, opportunities, and infrastructure. It acknowledges that rural communities are diverse and that tailored approaches are necessary to address the needs within these communities.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to publish and implement a new Our Rural Future policy from 2026. The process of developing this successor policy has already begun, and the new policy will continue to align with these important principles. The policy development process is underpinned by a comprehensive consultation strategy, which will afford people the opportunity to outline the key opportunities and challenges in rural Ireland that the new policy should address.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1279. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to provide updated projections for funding needed to fully implement the outdoor recreation infrastructure strategy by 2027. [23394/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors, the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023- 2027, was published in November 2022. The strategy was developed in collaboration with Comhairle na Tuaithe and is a collaborative cross-Government, stakeholder-led strategy.

Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors will ensure that there is a joined up and coordinated approach to deliver maximum impact from the significant investment in the sector and to build on the natural advantages in place. The 95 actions in the strategy are attributed to a wide number of stakeholders and while there may be a cost to each stakeholder as they deliver their individual actions, there is no overall cost estimated for the delivery of the strategy. In line with the delivery of other cross governmental strategies, funding allocations across individual departments are addressed via the annual budgetary process.

There are a range of actions and programmes referenced in the strategy that entail the allocation of funding from my Department. This includes the provision of funding in the region of €5m per annum to support trails on my Department’s Walks Scheme and €16m per annum for the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) which supports the development of new outdoor recreational infrastructure and the necessary repair, enhancement or promotion of existing outdoor recreation infrastructure in countryside areas. My Department is also expanding the Mountain Access Project and developing a pilot uplands recreation scheme, the cost of which will be determined by the numbers that successfully join both initiatives.

Other examples include a sum of €780,000 which my Department is providing to support the development of County Outdoor Recreation Plans. These plans will create a more strategic approach to developing outdoor recreation infrastructure and will ensure that available funding and resources are better aligned with national and county priorities. My Department has also committed €1.28m over 3 years to support a pilot scheme for 6 County Outdoor Recreation Officers, based in Local Sports Partnerships, to develop and implement the county outdoor recreation plans.

I can assure the deputy that my Department is working closely with stakeholders to ensure that the strategy is implemented and delivers for the sector.