Since its launch in 2021, Our Rural Future has delivered vital investment and supports to rural areas, strengthening local economies and improving the quality of life for people across rural Ireland.
Measures completed which support increasing the population in rural areas include improvements in high-speed broadband provision, support for rural enterprise, increased rural transport services and ongoing support for the agri-food sector. These measures were developed with the goal of encouraging people to remain in or consider rural areas as an attractive place to live, learn, work and raise a family.
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to publish and implement a new Our Rural Future policy and this process is at an advanced stage of development. This new policy will run until 2031 and will build on the progress already achieved and will set out a renewed vision for the years ahead, providing the framework for the Government's ongoing commitment to rural Ireland, supported by ambitious, clear and practical actions.
Informed by extensive public and stakeholder consultation throughout 2025, the key themes and priorities for the new policy include promoting balanced regional development, support local economies, enabling access to quality services including healthcare and schools, and strengthening the resilience and sustainability of rural towns, villages and communities. The cross government approach to the policy will ensure an integrated approach to many of the issues referenced by the Deputy.
Development of the new policy was also informed by an independent review of rural policy in Ireland, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In providing a series of recommendations, the OECD review points to the benefits of improved use of existing datasets to develop our rural intelligence and support better, evidence-based policy making, broadening support for rural enterprises and enabling delivery of essential services in rural areas.
According to the OECD, rural remote regions in Ireland recorded the highest population growth of all OECD countries between 2001 and 2021 and CSO figures show a 7% increase in highly rural remote areas between 2011 and 2022. However, I am aware that there are variations across rural areas within these overarching figures, and the sustainability and attractiveness of all rural areas remains a key focus for Government.
The policy will be backed by substantial investment targeted at securing a more sustainable future for our rural communities. Budget 2026 committed the largest allocation of funding to my department since its establishment. The Rural Development Programme will total €192 million this year, continuing the sustained investment of recent years and supporting and enhancing the range of schemes that will remain key to the delivery of the new Our Rural Future policy.
Initiatives such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, LEADER and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund deliver continue to deliver strategically targeted investment in our rural communities. The Town Centre First Policy, and its commitment towards a National Town Centre First Office, Town Regeneration Officers and Town Teams, all support the aim of revitalising rural towns and villages.
Importantly all these initiatives are very closely linked to local needs and priorities. Both the Town Centre First approach and my department's rural development schemes are rooted in ensuring that projects funded are based on the identification of the particular needs and challenges which exist in particular rural towns and villages.
I have witnessed first-hand the very real and tangible impacts of these projects, and I look forward to the finalisation of the new Our Rural Future policy, which will provide the framework for the Government's ongoing commitment to, and support for, rural communities as thriving and attractive places to live.
