The Land Commission should be re-established to address the "national crisis" which has developed in rural Ireland, Sinn Féin said today.
Commenting on a new publication by the Western Development Agency (WDC) which showed continuing rural decline, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams blamed Government failure to follow through on regional development promises.
The report, Model of Rural Development,warned the prosperity gap between the West and the rest of Ireland is set to wide unless "all government departments and state agencies" put rural development higher up on their agendas.
Speaking at the launch of the publication, Minister for Social, Community and Rural Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív said restructuring in agriculture and traditional industry was fundamental to development.
The decentralisation of public and civil servants and the development of the non-farm sector was also essential.
"However, as well as that there is a need to try and ensure that all the potential of rural Ireland is achieved by encouraging all sections of society and all communities to get involved in rural development," Mr Ó Cuív said.
He warned about the reliance on the agriculture and construction sector for employment and said commuting to urban centres could not be the only alternative for those working in other sectors.
WDC chief executive Lisa McAllister said: "If rural economies are to progress and sustain themselves, the WDC firmly believes that support for rural development must be central to the remit of all Government departments and state agencies."
It was now a "critical point in time" for sustainable rural development across Europe, with the implementation of a number of EU initiatives due to begin next year. Fiona Candon the WDC's development manager said.
Speaking in Co Mayo today, Mr Adams said a reconstituted Land Commission to regulate the use and distribution of land would aid rural development. The commission was created in 1881 to help the transfer of land into local ownership and was gradually phased out towards the end of the last century.
"While developers and speculators have made huge windfall profits as a result of the rezoning of land, would-be home owners and small farmers seeking to expand their holdings have suffered. In particular the escalating cost of building land has frustrated the social housing programmes of local authorities," Mr Adams said.
"The West is an area of great potential and the reason it continues to suffer from population decline is well documented. It is due to a lack of jobs, infrastructure and the ongoing withdrawal of essential services. The Government needs to start recognising that this is a national crisis and treat is as such," Mr Adams added.