To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for her Department's definition of rural.

The Department does not apply a single definition of rural but instead takes a flexible approach depending on the issue under consideration. However, a useful reference is the ‘Review of the Statistical Classification and Delineation of Settlements’ published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in 2015. This review was not prescriptive in terms of an urban/rural definition but advised that ‘users should consider defining urban and rural areas in ways which are appropriate for different projects and programmes’. In the absence of a specific definition, a default urban-rural boundary at a settlement population of 5,000 was proposed for use.