Vol. 431 No. 6
76 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for the Environment if he will introduce the necessary statutory changes to enable adequate support to be given to the voluntary rural resettlement scheme for the resettlement of urban families in depopulated rural areas.
80 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for the Environment if he will make a statement on the concept of rural resettlement for urban dwellers; and the resources, if any, he will make available for this concept.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 80 together.
The objective of rural resettlement involves a variety of considerations some of which are within the remit of other Government Departments.
I fully support the objectives and the work of Rural Resettlement Ireland Ltd. in assisting families from the major urban areas to resettle in rural areas and I introduced grant assistance for this purpose in 1992. In the current year, grant assistance from my Department of £40,000 has been allocated towards the administrative and general expenses of Rural Resettlement Ireland Ltd.
The range of housing schemes already available can be used to assist families wishing to resettle; these include the shared ownership, mortgage allowance and improvement-works-in-lieu schemes. I have no proposals to introduce legislation in this area.
