As discussed on the Property Matters show last week, the Department of Rural and Community Development is currently developing a new, whole-of-Government rural development policy for Ireland according to Gov.ie. This will follow on from the Action Plan for Rural Development which was originally published in January 2017 and it reaches the end of its three-year timeframe in 2019.
The new rural policy will focus on strengthening on rural communities with a five year timeframe.
The consultation will take account of:
- Emerging economic, societal and international developments, including changing demographics within rural communities,
- The increasing focus on climate change adaptation, diversification in the agri-food sector,
- the next version of rural funding schemes (for example, CAP and LEADER ),
- New ways of working and the changing nature of jobs,
- and Brexit.
According to the website, the Department held a series of consultation events over the last few months to obtain stakeholder views on the challenges, obstacles and opportunities facing rural Ireland and its people. The Department is inviting feedback on a broader scale via an online survey.
The Department is now hosting a Public Consultation Survey until Friday 11 October 2019. The Department expressed their hope to get input from anyone who wishes to voice their opinions. The survey is available here
Full details can be found here.