To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, given that the majority of rural citizens have no direct connection to either the farming or agri-food industries, to outline any discussion she has had with the Minister for the Economy in relation to policy and support for the development of other rural businesses.

The Department for the Economy is the department with lead responsibility for developing the economy in Northern Ireland and my Department works with the Department for the Economy on the Rural White Paper Action Plan. This paper contains a number of actions aimed at supporting the sustainable development of the rural economy, including commitments to support rural businesses, encouraging the development of rural tourism and to promote the social economy in rural areas.

My Department has also taken forward initiatives including the Rural Business Investment Scheme under the Rural Development Programme and a pilot scheme under Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme (TRPSI) called the Rural Business Start Scheme.

The Rural Business Investment Scheme is implemented at a local level by 10 Local Action Groups (LAGs), using the LEADER methodology. The purpose of the scheme is to provide capital grant aid to help micro and small businesses create much needed jobs in all rural areas. Job creation is the major theme of the Rural Business Investment Scheme and currently 84 Letters of Offer have issued to successful applicants, worth just under £2.3m of grant aid, targeting the creation of 184 full time equivalent jobs.

The Rural Business Start Scheme is a pilot initiative which aims to encourage entrepreneurship and the creation of new self-employment opportunities for young people (18 to 30 years of age) and women and is running in the Mid Ulster area during its pilot phase. The pilot closed for applications on Friday 30 September. A review of the pilot will be completed in order to determine the longer term potential of this approach and will inform the decision on whether to roll the Scheme out to other areas.