Vol. 536 No. 6
151 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the proposals he has to introduce a financial scheme to help eradicate depopulation in many areas of the country; and if he will name the 20 most depopulated areas. [15206/01]
Earlier this year, the Taoiseach, together with the Minister of State with responsibility for local development, launched the first phase of the RAPID programme, targeting the 25 most deprived urban neighbourhoods in the State for priority investment of funds provided under the national development plan. My Department has responsibility for the rural strand of the RAPID programme, known as CLAR, which will be targeted at areas where population decline has been the most significant over the 1926 to 1996 period, based on census of population data. An announcement of the areas selected will be made in the coming weeks.
