The three main banks intend closing more branches in rural areas because of commercial pressures, Mr Noel Davern, Minister of State for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said yesterday at the launch of the National Rural Development Forum in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
He said AIB, Bank of Ireland and National Irish Bank had all replied to a Department query on their rural strategy, saying that because of the cost of staffing and the advent of e-commerce, they would be closing more rural subbranches.
Proposals for drafting a 25year planning strategy aimed at halting rural decline were outlined at the meeting. The National Spatial Strategy (NSS), which seeks to achieve "balanced regional development", will be formulated by December 2001, as part of the National Development Plan's regional policy.
Mr Davern said the forum, which will meet twice yearly, will devise policies on the transition to part-time farming, rural poverty and transport, and planning permission for houses in rural areas.
The £6.7 billion direct investment contained in the National Development Plan for rural development would contribute to "underwriting the future of our rural areas".
In a submission from the floor, Mr James Bannon, of the Local Authority Members Association, said an extension of the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS) to include refurbishment of farm buildings would contribute to real rural development. There was a lot of dereliction among farm buildings in the countryside, he said.
The Sligo county manager, Mr Hubert Kearns, said there was considerable concern in the North West that the National Roads Authority (NRA) motorway plan excluded the region. The most northerly route was a proposed Galway-Dublin motorway.
Mr Iain Douglas, a Department of the Environment planner, said environmental considerations might turn the focus to rail, while pressures on social and economic development would ensure the strategy would not "sit on the shelf".