I call Deputy Michael Harty, on behalf of the Rural Independent Group.

I will address the issue of balanced regional developed as it was outlined in the programme for Government. Balanced regional development requires an active development of regions outside the greater Dublin area, and I stress "active development". It needs to provide opportunities to live and work and sustain a family in towns and villages which are outside the major urban areas. It needs to maintain a viable and progressive agricultural sector and it needs to retain the fabric and unique culture of our rural towns and villages, which really are our inheritance.

During the programme for Government negotiations, a lot of time was spent in discussing balanced regional development. It was one of the core issues identified by the rural TDs who engaged in the negotiations. We were promised a new Ministry for regional development and rural affairs. Unfortunately, we did not get a new Ministry. Rural affairs and regional development was added to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and we did not get a stand-alone Ministry. We do not know how the amalgamated Ministry is functioning. We do not know what its staffing levels are. We do not know what its goals or responsibilities are or what it has achieved to date. Also in the programme for Government, we were promised that there would be rural-proofing of all Government policy decisions, and we see very little evidence of that.

What is happening in Ireland today is we are developing a group of city states. We are developing urban areas - the greater Dublin area, Cork, Galway, Limerick - but there are considerable areas of the country which are not benefitting from the economic upturn and economic development. We are developing into a nation of city states.

In the programme for Government, it was identified that there would be county-specific targets for jobs which would come in at 1% of the national average for unemployment, and we do not see evidence of those figures coming out. There was a commitment to develop the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA. We do not see any active evidence of that being done. There was a commitment to develop our national assets, to develop an Atlantic economic corridor and to a balanced regional development. For instance, our airports are not balanced in relation to development. Dublin Airport is getting a second runway.

That will bring a disproportionate level of economic development to the greater Dublin area, to the detriment of other areas. We also have an infrastructure deficit in broadband, mobile telephone coverage and the road network. The fabric of rural society is disintegrating with the loss of post offices and medical and pharmacy services. The economic viability of small towns and villages is being undermined, as is our agriculture. Will the Minister identify the functions of this new Department? What are its staffing levels and its responsibilities, goals, targets and achievements?

I am not in a position to provide the staffing levels relating to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs this morning, but I will obtain that information and forward it to the Deputy. On his broader point regarding the need for balanced regional economic development, this was acknowledged very strongly by myself and the Government on budget day. For example, we have always made it clear that the response to Brexit cannot be a Dublin response. It must be a national response in order to allow all parts of the country to avail of the opportunities that exist and to deal with risks such as those posed by Brexit.

Regarding how we are seeking to make progress on this agenda, I point to the rural development plan. Much of it was overseen and will be implemented by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, and his Department. The rural development plan has received an increase in funding from €494 million to €601 million. The reason that this fund has been increased is to respond to the agenda to which the Deputy refers. In budget 2017, funding was also put in place for the sheep welfare scheme. This issue was raised by Deputies in the Rural Independent Alliance during negotiations on the formation of the Government.

Deputy Harty referred to regional and State airports. He is correct that plans are in place for Dublin Airport to get a new runway. That will be subject to a new oversight process. Along with that, however, consider the recent performance of Knock airport, where passenger numbers increased by 10%. Shannon Airport has become an independent State airport and this gives it the autonomy to respond to the needs the Deputy outlined. In addition, Cork Airport is doing tremendous work in adding new routes and new capacity.

The Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has received additional funding to implement the action plan on rural development and for the Leader programme and Údarás na Gaeltachta, an issue the Minister of State, Deputy Kyne, has been pursuing and which he raised with me on a number of occasions during the Estimates process in the run up to the budget. We are also at an advanced stage with the new national broadband plan to respond to the digital and connectivity issues the Deputy raised. Deputy Harty also raised the jobs plan. The jobs plan now has a regional dimension, which it had been lacking up to this point, with clear targets set by region. The objective is to deliver jobs growth throughout the country.

I thank the Minister. People in rural Ireland and in the regions feel disenfranchised. There were lessons from the general election which the Government should have learned. People felt they had been cut off from the economic development of the country and that they were not benefitting from the economic recovery. We have many national organisations such as the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA, Irish Farmers Association, IFA, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann. How did the National Ploughing Championships develop? They originated in rural Ireland and they are a showcase for what is happening there. There must be sustainability in rural Ireland. I accept the matters that the Minister outlined but there must be clear implementation and a clear pathway whereby people can see the economic development and can see that the regions and urban areas are catered for equally.

I agree with much of what the Deputy said. Of course, there were clear lessons in the message people sent to the previous Government in the recent general election. The reason an action plan will be published later this year by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Humphreys, and the Ministers of State, Deputy Ring and Deputy Kyne, is to respond to the agenda to which Deputy Harty refers.

Such an approach has worked well with the Action Plan for Jobs in delivering national economic growth. The Deputy is correct that this must be felt across all parts of the country and we need to ensure such jobs growth does not benefit only Dublin or our larger cities. If we want to have sustainable economic development and growth, it must take place outside our large cities. This is why an action plan will be published later this year to put in place the milestones and deliver and make further progress against the agenda which the Deputy articulated.