Regional development will be to the forefront of Government policy if the new social partnership proposals agreed last night are ratified, Irish Rural Link (IRL) claimed today.
While the agriculture element of the proposed 10-year deal has yet to be finalised, IRL - the advocacy
Fine Gael Mayo TD Micheal Ring
group for rural communities - said Towards 2016, was "a monumental step forward for rural Ireland as well as for the regions".
Chief executive Seamus Boland, said the National Development Plan (NDP) and the National Spatial Strategy "will dictate the future direction of investment [ensuring] that the difference between the regions will be addressed in a more fundamental and comprehensive way".
"There is a lot in this agreement that is good for rural Ireland but now is time for implementation," Mr Boland said.
The agreement's recognition of the need to address the contentious issue of rural housing, was also welcomed.
IRL, which is one of the social partners, has long campaigned for a more liberal regime in for one-off housing in rural areas. The issue was raised in the Dail today during second stage debate debate on the Strategic Infrastructure Bill.
Fine Gael's Michael Ring said the public were more becoming increasingly frustrated at Government policy which led to a high proportion of planing refusals.
Mr Ring said applicants were not "not asking the State to build a house for them or buy a site for them". They were simply trying to provide for their family at an affordable cost.
He said advocates of more rural housing were not proposing to build "in every scenic corner of the countryside".