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Government defends lack of targets in plan to attract workers to rural areas

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys said the plan is about giving people choices.

Heather Humphreys (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA) Expand

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Heather Humphreys (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA)

Heather Humphreys (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA)

Heather Humphreys (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA)

By Cate McCurry, PA

The Government has defended its decision not to commit to any job targets or deadlines in a major plan to attract more workers to rural towns and villages.

Unveiling its blueprint to transform rural areas across the country, the Government said the “decentralisation” will provide help for remote workers.

The major shake-up aims to have more people working from rural areas by developing disused buildings and pubs into working hubs.

Entitled Our Rural Future, it has been described as the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in decades.

The plan contains 150 measures and is intended to be delivered over the next five years.

Among the commitments is a plan to offer city-based workers a grant to relocate to rural areas to boost small towns and villages.

However, the Government has not committed to a timetable or set any targets for jobs in rural areas.

There are plans to set up more than 400 remote working hubs, but there is no specific date when these will become available.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys said the plan is about giving people choices.

Speaking at a press conference at Croke Park in Dublin, she said: “I don’t want to put figures on things like that because it’s about giving people the choice.

“I don’t think working from home is healthy, that’s why we will support 400 hubs across the country, so you have the demarcation when you leave work and go home.”

Ms Humphreys said the Government will also explore tax incentives for employers or employees who can accommodate remote working.

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“We will look at how we will accommodate both employees and employers because we have to get buy-in from both for remote working,” she added.

“I’m also looking at grants for remote workers to move to rural towns and villages. I want to keep momentum going on remote working.

“I think it’s the one big game-changer that we have in rural Ireland. We have looked at the American model, where they have tried to get people from Silicon Valley to move back to places like Georgia, and offered them a relocation grant of about 2,000 dollars.

“This is Government giving a message to people: we want to help you and if you want to work remotely and live in rural Ireland, we want to facilitate it.

“If you buy a new a car and leave the garage, sometimes the garageman will say, ‘I’ll fill up that tank for you’ – that’s the help to get you on the way. That’s what this grant is about.”

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said remote working is one aspect that will help develop rural areas.

He also said that allowing people to work from home, particularly young people, will reduce living costs and provide additional saving capacity.

We went want population growth in rural Ireland. It's about how we balance that out in terms of a greater regional the balance than we've had beforeMicheal Martin

Mr Martin said: “The population is growing and this plan creates a framework for population growth.

“One of the points we’re making is that we went want population growth in rural Ireland. It’s about how we balance that out in terms of a greater regional the balance than we’ve had before.

“That is a clear imperative and this strategy will aid us in redressing that regional balance.”

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said: “Remote working isn’t just about people moving to rural Ireland, it’s also people being able to spend more time there.

“We’ve people that live in rural Ireland and commute into Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, but if they were able to spend more time working from home and working from their local village or small town, they’ll spend more money in shops and businesses in that small town and small village.

“It’s not just about people relocating to rural Ireland, it’s also about people who already live in rural Ireland, instead of commuting, being able to spend more time locally, and more money locally, which therefore benefits the local economy.”

Ms Humphreys said the Government is focusing on getting the economy reopened.

She said targets to create jobs in rural areas were not included because of economic difficulties during Covid-19.

“There’s no target on jobs at this time because of where we are,” Ms Humphreys added.

“I think it would be unwise of me to put a target in there, in terms of jobs.”

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