Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have €3.6 million allocated for matters related to Town Centre First policy such as the appointment of a town regeneration officers for which we pay, the development of the plans, and the establishment and the operation of the Town Centre First national office. We work in conjunction with the Department of housing and it looks at other issues involved in the regeneration of the town centres as well. It is a joint policy and it is about bringing old derelict buildings back into use. We have the rural regeneration fund in my Department and we deal with the towns under a certain size, and the Department of housing has the urban renewal development fund, URDF, which looks at the bigger towns. This was to tie the whole thing together so that we have one Town Centre First officer who pulls in the businesses, the local authorities, the Departments and can look at it from a much more holistic perspective. Therefore, there is no duplication of work; one person does it. There is the Town Centre First national office, which is based in the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, and is funded through the Department of housing.