Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 February 2026
26. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if his Department’s Our Rural Future Strategy envisions encouraging people to leave Dublin (details supplied). [8410/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra54. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht whether it is his position that the rural resettlement scheme should be re-established (details supplied). [8409/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 54 together.
Since its launch in 2021, Our Rural Future has delivered vital investment and supports to rural areas strengthening local economies and improving 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 agrifood sector.
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.
My Department is currently well advanced in the process of developing the successor to Our Rural Future, which will run until 2031 and will set out a renewed vision for rural areas as vibrant and attractive places to live - for those already living in rural areas as well as those who wish to relocate to rural areas.
This new policy will build on the progress already achieved and will set out a renewed vision for the years ahead. It will contain commitments to deliver on Government’s continued ambition for rural areas and will be supported by clear and practical actions, developed across government, and backed by substantial investment in rural Ireland.
Within my own department, there has been significant funding increases in recent years across the range of capital investment schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme, with the aim of revitalising rural towns, villages and communities.
I have witnessed first-hand the very real and tangible impacts that these projects can have in rural towns and village all across the country and these schemes will continue to provide vital supports to rural communities.
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.
