Restrictions on one-off housing in the countryside are to be loosened in more remote areas under the Project Ireland 2040 plan set to be unveiled by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe today.

A €1bn fund targeted at rural regeneration is to be included in the roadmap for the country's development over the next 20 years, being launched in Sligo today.

Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, Paschal Donohoe outlined how there will be an extra 200,000 people living in Ireland in towns and villages around the country in the next 20 years and the €1bn will be focused on giving them "quality of life and jobs vital to a resilient economy and good society".

Minister Donohoe said the fund was needed because in the past, Ireland’s "investment decisions [had] nothing to with planning decisions", which "laid the seeds for the fall our country is coming out of".

He also said spending will not have any influence on existing Leader funds that the Department of Rural and Community Development is running.

Features of the Project Ireland 2040 rural regeneration plan include:

  • Restrictions for planning permission for one-off housing in the countryside to be loosened.
  • A total of €22bn has been allocated for creating a “low carbon environment” that will be sustainable by 2050.
  • No diesel or petrol cars by 2030.
  • A €4.5bn investment in regional and local roads.
  • Atlantic road corridor from Donegal to Waterford.

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