Minister Humphreys Speech – Our Rural Future

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Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister Ryan and to all our guests joining us online today – good afternoon.

As someone who has lived and worked in rural Ireland all my life, I understand the challenges rural communities face, whether that is retaining our young people, creating new employment opportunities or maintaining local services and amenities.

As we emerge from the shadows cast by COVID-19, I believe an unparalleled opportunity now exists to reimagine and re-value what rural Ireland means to our society and to maximise a recovery for all parts of our country.

Our Rural Future

Our Rural Future is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in decades.

It comes at a time of unique, generational change.

Eighteen months ago remote working was a concept.

Today, it is an everyday working reality for tens of thousands of people.

The benefits are huge;

• reduced commuting times,
• lower emissions,
• more time to spend with our family,
• and most importantly – a better quality of life for our people.

Now is the time to be ambitious and seize the unprecedented opportunity remote working presents for rural development.

To do this, we will develop a network of over 400 remote working hubs across the country, providing people with high-speed broadband and fully equipped office space enabling them to work locally.

Government will also lead by example.

We will move to 20% remote working in the public sector this year, with further increases over the next 5 years.

We will develop specific public sector hubs in regional towns to enable public servants to work from their own locality.

This is modern day, worker-led decentralisation not focussed on buildings, but on people.

And that’s what remote and blended working is all about – giving people choices so that they can have good career opportunities and live where they choose.

For decades we have seen global trends where young people leave their local communities to live and work in larger cities.

We now have an unprecedented opportunity to turn the tide.

In doing so, we will not only revitalise rural communities but we will also take the pressure off our cities in areas like housing and traffic congestion.

Remember the days when you couldn’t get on the Bus or the Luas because they were too full?

Or when you spent hours sitting in traffic when you could have been spending that time with your family?

The biggest mistake we can make as we emerge from the pandemic is to go back to the old normal.

We need to move away from the tired narrative of rural versus urban.

We are interdependent.

This policy is about achieving balanced regional development in a way that benefits everybody.

If people are to make the move back to rural Ireland, we want to ensure they are returning to vibrant towns and villages.

Through a new Town Centre First approach, we will target investment to ensure rural towns and villages are vibrant and lived-in places.

The National Broadband Plan is the largest ever investment in rural Ireland, akin to electrification – it will open up a new world of possibilities.

We want to ensure businesses, communities and individuals are fully equipped to maximise the benefits it will bring in areas like online trading, eHealth, remote learning and other new technologies.

When it comes to rural development, Government alone does not have all the answers. There is no one-size-fits all solution.

No Town, Village or Parish are the same.

Equally our Islands also have their own unique characteristics.

The people best placed to effect change in rural communities are the people who live there.

This policy is about a ground up approach.

And so today I say to our PPN networks,

• our LEADER companies, our LCDCs,
• our Tidy Towns, our Sports clubs,
• our Local Chambers, our Social Enterprises,
• our Town Teams and our Local Development Associations -
• You are the people who will make the difference and shape your communities future.

If you have bright, innovative ideas that can make a difference – we want to hear them and we want to work with you.

There are more funding streams available across Government for rural development than ever before.

The forthcoming review of the National Development Plan will underpin and strengthen the government’s absolute commitment to balanced regional development and to investing in key infrastructure and public services in our rural communities.

COVID-19 has taught us all - Government, Citizens, Businesses and Communities - to think outside the box.

Now is not the time to go back inside it.

We must act now and be brave, bold and ambitious to shape our rural future.

Thank you.

Ends