Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the officials from the Department and all officials within the local authorities who are involved in the town centre living initiative. This morning's session has been really informative. I also acknowledge the local public representatives from Roscommon who are in the Visitors Gallery and familiar with the initiative in Boyle and the challenges and opportunities that arise in the rejuvenation of the town centre.

I have a number of questions, some of which have been asked. It is evident that all of the local authorities involved in the initiative have tried to be proactive, constructive and practical in trying to deal with the issues surrounding vacancies, dereliction and the regeneration of town centres. As others mentioned, the cost of redeveloping houses in town centres is a major, fundamental and core issue. The other point alongside it concerns employment. Ms Whyte gave the good statistic that 65% of young people attended third level education. However, the challenge in places such as Roscommon is to attract them back. The cost of redevelopment for the purposes of providing housing and employment is for me the core issue. It is important that there be a vision-led plan that is both realistic and practical, but I am getting the message from the presentations made that cost and employment are two of the issues involved. Mr. Hynes mentioned the need for incentives to encourage investment. I imagine they focus on the two key issues of incentivising employers to set up in rural areas and providing incentives to encourage the regeneration of residential properties. I would like to hear more about that matter because they are the two core issues.

This is an informative discussion. However, it is evident that there are a lot of common issues. Have the six local authorities been working together on this initiative? How has that process worked? I ask the officials from the Department where we go from here. Information and evidence gathering, working across communities and gathering and building a bank of evidence can only take us so far. Where do we go from here to provide support in dealing with the core issues of employment and the redevelopment of residential properties?

I am most familiar with Boyle, County Roscommon. No more than in the example of Westport given by Mr. Hynes, we need to try to build on the assets within local communities. Lough Key is located on the edge of Boyle and a positive for the area. The long awaited cycleway between Boyle and Lough Key will be important in trying to bring people from the outskirts to the town centre, King House and Boyle Abbey. For a lot of communities, the core issue is building on their strengths and assets, but at the end of the day it all comes down to two fundamental points, on which I am interested in hearing the comments of the delegates. We need to be practical and realistic in how we deliver the initiative, but significant investment will be required. We must invest to encourage people to live in town centres, but it has to be linked with employment creation.

I am very involved in the team in Ballaghaderreen. It is positive that there are town and village rural regeneration schemes coming into play. Part of the initiative in Ballaghaderreen which has the same challenges emphasised by the delegates involves a painting scheme, but that can only do so much. We want people to have confidence in their towns which we want to look well. We want people to have pride in their areas, but we also want them to have the option of living in a town centre should they so wish and in so doing being able to access employment.

They are my thoughts which I share with the delegates. As I said, I am also involved at local level. I thank them for their presentations which have been really helpful. I hope that as a committee we can take them on board.