To ask the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety whether he has given any consideration to developing a rural healthcare strategy.

I am committed to ensuring that people in rural communities have access to quality health and social care services. My Department is working in partnership with the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) to improve services for people in rural areas.

In line with the Public Health Framework, ‘Making Life Better’, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s ‘Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Framework’, the Public Health Agency collaborates with DARD on initiatives that support the needs of vulnerable rural dwellers in or at risk of poverty and social isolation and on health improvement programmes such as the ‘Maximising Access in Rural Areas’ Project and the ‘Farm Families Health Check Programme’. My Department will continue to be represented on the Interdepartmental Committee on Rural Policy.