Rural areas need multi-dimensional development policies in order to sustain their population, a Government minister said yesterday.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, said EU competition law should be operated so that the provision of essential services was not prohibitively expensive in rural areas. He also wanted the law to ensure that enterprise support mechanisms ensured that rural areas could compete for enterprise development.
He was announcing details of two major rural development conferences to be held here next year during the EU presidency.
The Minister said he intends to focus on the need for multi-dimensional development and recognition that a total dependence on agriculture will not sustain the population in rural areas when he hosts the two conferences in May and June 2004.
The first conference, on May 31st, 2004 in Connemara, will focus on islands, mountainous and sparsely populated areas. The second conference will focus on rural development and job creation and other initiatives to encourage people to remain in rural areas.
"With increasing numbers of Europeans now living in cities and towns, rural decline particularly hits peripheral areas and those regions which have traditionally been dependent on agriculture," he said. "This trend is most notable in Ireland where over one-third of our population lives in the Greater Dublin Area. We must act now to reverse this trend and preserve the diversity of Europe's countryside."
The Minister said the rural development conferences would benefit from the results of a European survey, carried out by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, which reviews living conditions and the quality of life of people in rural areas in 28 European countries.
The survey results will highlight a range of issues in rural areas including; income levels, career opportunities, balancing work and home life, home ownership, quality of home and social life, health, access to education, as well as social interaction with friends and neighbours, the Minister said.
"It is my intention to promote new schemes and policies that are simplified and come under one unified programme tailored to the specific needs of rural areas. This will give recognition to multi-dimensional development policies for rural areas and highlight the fact that a total dependence on agriculture will not sustain the population in rural areas.
"We must have clear spatial strategies, such as Ireland's National Spatial Strategy, ensuring the continued maintenance and growth of rural populations," he said.
Mr Ó Cuív said funding for rural areas must be targeted, as a matter of urgency, to ensure that infrastructure deficits in roads, telecommunications, water and public transport do not inhibit rural growth in declining and peripheral areas.
The second EU conference on rural development is to take place in the Castlecourt Hotel, Westport, Co Mayo, on Monday. May 31st, and Tuesday, June 1st, 2004.