My Department is committed to maintaining the maximum number of people in rural areas and to strengthening rural communities economically, socially and culturally. As I stated in Killarney recently, we have in our country a unique settlement pattern based around the baile fearann, or townland, and the parish. Villages and towns obviously also play a role in rural areas, but the traditional settlement pattern gave a cohesiveness to society that is vital for the economic and social well-being of our people. We need balanced spatial development, and part of this is the development of our countryside, as outlined in the national spatial strategy.
As pointed out in the strategy, in many rural areas the combination of a high dependency on a changing agricultural base, a scarcity of employment opportunities and resultant out-migration has weakened their demographic, economic, social and physical structure. In my statement welcoming the publication of the strategy last November, I said it sets down clear markers for the way ahead in rural development. The strategy addresses many of my concerns in relation to such issues as rural housing, services and cultural identity. The rural settlement policy framework contained in the NSS, which represents overall Government policy on rural housing, aims to sustain and renew rural communities. In this way it aims to ensure that key assets in rural areas are protected to support quality of life and also that rural settlement policies are responsive to the differing local circumstances in different areas.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is currently at an advanced stage in preparing rural housing guidelines and it is subsequently proposed to issue these as a public consultation document before the end of the year. The guidelines will also be aimed, through the operation of the planning system, at securing greater public awareness of the issues involved in rural settlement policies and greater consensus on the practical implementation of those policies.
Government policy on rural development is set out in the White Paper published in 1999. The policy agenda is a broad one, involving the remit of many of my colleagues in Government and their related agencies. It covers such issues as agriculture, infrastructure, transport, environment, health, education and enterprise and the challenge is to ensure coherence in pursuing our rural development objectives.
Given the lapse of time and other significant developments since its publication, I am considering initiating a review of the White Paper.