Rural pubs should be recognised as part of the "social and community fabric", the Dáil has heard, amid calls for targeted measures to be included in the budget to help protect them.
Sinn Féin's Conor McGuinness said more than 2,200 pubs have closed across Ireland since 2005, with around 128 closures every year.
"When a rural pub closes the impact is not just limited to the licence holder or business, it's not just the loss of an enterprise, economic activity or employment, but the community loses a social anchor in many respects.
"Older people, single men in rural areas, isolated farmers in many cases, musicians, local sports clubs, tourists, community groups all lose a space," he said.
"We cannot say we’re serious about tackling loneliness while allowing rural social infrastructure to disappear," he added.
Mr McGuinness asked Minister for Rural and Community Development Dara Calleary if he had raised the issue directly with Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke and if he had sought a targeted rural pub viability package in next year’s budget.
Minister Calleary said he would be engaging with Minister Burke in relation to the State's rural future, and what can be done to sustain rural enterprises and economies.
He said the Government had to be careful in how it intervenes with private businesses but has been investing in the "social hub of communities".
Minister Calleary said he remained open to proposals and highlighted a "very good and very round" submission from the Vintners Federation of Ireland to his department's new rural future policy.
He also said that the Government had "bus-on-demand" pilots running in Killarney and Achill with the view to expand them around the country and specifically in rural areas.
"That will assist the viability of rural hospitality venues," he added.
