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The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Simon Coveney T.D. today welcomed the publication of the much anticipated Realising our Rural Potential: The Action Plan for Rural Development.

Commenting on Minister Heather Humphrey’s substantive and important document, which identifies some 270 concrete actions to benefit rural Ireland, Minister Coveney praised the very constructive and extensive engagement on the Plan between their two Departments over recent months.
Over 20 of the actions listed in the Plan fall under his Department’s responsibility. These include actions related to;

- The provision of social housing in rural areas
- Further strengthening the rural development aspects of the National Planning Framework, including in relation to enterprise development
- Using planning policy to utilise vacant properties and derelict sites in rural areas, and small housing schemes in towns and villages
- A new Rural Resettlement Initiative
- The new RAPID Programme
- Funding and policy supports for Volunteering
- Public Participation Networks
- Engaging with communities on water quality projects
- Implementation of the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme
- Investment in the Seniors Alert Scheme
- Roll out of the new Community Facilities Fund
- The feasibility of a rates alleviation scheme
- The development of exempted planning regulations for 4G antennae
- A National Flood Forecasting Service

In acknowledging those actions, the Minister proposes to reinforce the link between the Action Plan and the development during 2017 of the new National Planning Framework. “This is to ensure that the Action Plan reflects the expectation that rural development will form an intrinsic part of the National Planning Framework” said the Minister.

In concluding he said, “The publication of this Action Plan is a vital first step in charting a new and more dynamic path for action to secure future sustainable development of the many and varied parts of rural Ireland.”