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Minister of State responsible for rural development, Éamon Ó Cuív
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The Government today announced a £20 million rural regeneration plan to tackle the problems of depopulation and the lack of services in 16 designated areas.
An extra £20 million over two years has been added to National Development Plan funds to develop local infrastructure and social and community services in the targeted areas through community-based projects.
Fifteen areas have been selected for CLÁR (Ceantair Laga Ard-Riachtanais or Programme for Revitalising Rural Areas) because they have lost at least half of their populations in the last 75 years.
The Cooley Peninsula has also been selected because of the impact of foot and mouth disease on its economy.
Making the announcement, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Mr Éamon Ó Cuív said: "I believe that the very lack of population should be a priority reason for getting investment rather than a reason for not getting it.
"We are going to turn the world on its head and say that a declining area that has suffered all the classical symptoms of rural decline will now come top of the list".
But Fine Gael spokesman on western development Mr Gerry Reynolds said £20 million was not nearly enough.
He said the funding would not meet the needs of the Western region alone as indicated by the Western Development Commission's report, State of the West.
It estimated it would cost up to £500 million to correct the infrastructural imbalance between the West of Ireland and the rest of the country.