To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what cross-departmental discussions he has had in regard to reducing social exclusion in rural communities.

The Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI) Framework provides a flexible mechanism for DAERA to work in partnership with government bodies and other organisations to design and implement measures which help tackle poverty, social isolation and exclusion. My Department currently supports a range of collaborative initiatives to address issues of loneliness, isolation, exclusion and mental health in the farming and wider rural community.

My Department is also currently developing a new Rural Policy Framework, to shape future rural priorities. The Framework includes a draft goal ‘to reduce loneliness and social exclusion in rural areas, to minimise the impacts of rural isolation and to promote the health and well-being of rural dwellers’ the outworkings of which will result in collaborative partnership working to promote positive health and wellbeing for the wider rural community.

Currently, discussions are ongoing with officials from the Department of Health and Health Trusts on how best to collaboratively address the issue of loneliness and isolation across Northern Ireland.