The Action Plan for Rural Development was launched in January 2017. The costs associated with the design and printing of the Action Plan are set out in the following table.
|
Item
|
Cost
|
|
Design and typesetting
|
€6,831.60
|
|
Printing
|
€11,332.00
|
|
Total
|
€18,163.60
|
The Monitoring Committee which oversees the implementation of the Action Plan has met on four occasions since the Plan was published, and is scheduled to meet again in Q3 2018. In addition to monitoring progress on measures contained in the Action Plan, the Committee has examined a number of specific themes of particular relevance to rural Ireland, including mental well-being, job creation, the LEADER programme and the work of the Fisheries Local Area Action Groups (FLAGs).
Progress Reports on the implementation of the Action Plan are published on my Department's website, www.drcd.gov.ie. The first Progress Report was published in August 2017, while the second Progress Report was published in May 2018. The reports outline the status of each of the actions due for delivery in the Plan over the reporting period. The latest report shows that 254 of the 270 actions to be reported on were either completed on schedule or substantially advanced, representing an implementation rate of 93%.
Work is under way on compiling the third Progress Report, which will outline the status of actions due for delivery in the first half of 2018. The draft report will be considered at the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee and will be published on my Department's website thereafter.
Mr. Pat Spillane, the former Chair of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA) was appointed as an ambassador for the Action Plan for Rural Development when the Plan was launched in 2017. The role of the ambassador is to assist in communicating the key messages of the Plan to people in rural communities across Ireland and to encourage engagement in the implementation of the Plan. The role also involves identifying the impact the Action Plan is having in practice on rural Ireland, in particular by identifying and reporting to the Monitoring Committee on best practice which could be replicated across rural communities in Ireland.
A fee of €20,000 plus travel and subsistence expenses was paid in respect of this role in 2017, while a fee of €10,000 plus travel and subsistence expenses is due to be paid for 2018.
