Mr. Stewart Logan:

I do not think any specific research on that has been undertaken recently but the whole weight of our investment, particularly in the public realm, through the urban renewal and development fund and the rural fund, tries to recognise the importance of the place-making piece. What happens in the public element of that is important because it does, as the Chairman mentioned earlier, create spin-offs and investment. We have seen that in a couple of locations.

In Clones, County Monaghan, in the public arm of that which is social housing, rather than having the sites which were perhaps more peripheral, we made a conscious effort to try to invest in a building or street which was perhaps one of these derelict and vacant properties we mentioned earlier. These have been brought back into two or three homes and there has been an uplift in that street, in the activity and in the visual presentation of it in terms of the buildings, as opposed to the footpaths, roads, the public lighting and so forth. It has also created a spin-off with private properties that were in a similar state, where investment has been made in the upkeep of those properties because the owners have seen the commitment on the public side of things. This will generate a response in the market, if one can call it that.

That is the strong tenet and, as I mentioned earlier, we are engaging with the local authorities on a very active basis, in particular with the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, URDF, and it is a point to be made time and again. One of the learnings from the past two years, in particular, is the reclaiming of the street by the public, namely, the reclaiming of the car parking spaces outside pubs and restaurants having outdoor dining facilities. Both our Department and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media have found that has been very successful. To be honest, it has overcome some of the reticence, sometimes, of the local traders and of the local community around that as they can see it can be very positive in the economic sense and in the life and activity within the town itself. That is something we are building on in terms of trying to encourage businesses to do more of that because it chimes very much with the Towns Centre First policy and the night-time economy policy we are preparing. That activity is something that just cannot be left there; there has to be intervention also.