Mr. Fintan O'Brien:

I thank committee members for their invitation to this meeting today to discuss the implementation of the town centre First policy. As the Chair mentioned, I am head of rural development and regional affairs in the Department of Rural and Community Development. I am joined by my colleagues Andrew Forde, principal officer with responsibility for rural regeneration including the town centre first policy, and Robert Nicholson, principal officer with responsibility for rural strategy and social enterprise.

Our Rural Future is the whole-of-Government policy for sustainable rural development over a five-year timeframe to 2025. The Department oversees and co-ordinates the implementation of the policy, which now contains more than 170 commitments across Government. Our reporting on this implementation is managed though the publication of biannual progress reports and annual work programmes, and the committee may be aware that the most recent of these reports has now been published.

Before I move on to address the town centre first policy specifically, I would like to take this opportunity to advise the committee that as part of the development of the successor to Our Rural Future, the Department has commissioned the OECD to conduct a review of rural policy in Ireland. Work on this has already started and will include OECD mission visits to Ireland over the coming months. I would like to extend an invitation to members of the committee to meet with the OECD as part of this process and therefore to have a direct input into that body of work. I will be happy to revert to the clerk as required with any further details on this matter.

Our Rural Future sets out a range of actions and approaches in key areas such as: the number people living in rural Ireland, the number of people working in rural Ireland, and the regeneration of rural towns and villages. In support of this, the Department implements a range of measures under its rural development investment programme, and the committee will be familiar with schemes such as the town and village renewal scheme and the rural regeneration and development fund, which address many of the themes of town centre regeneration that are relevant to today’s meeting. Our Rural Future also clearly references the potential impact of a town centre first approach and sets out a number of actions in this regard. Following on from this, the Town Centre First policy document, published in February 2022, was jointly developed by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The policy emerged from the work of an interdepartmental group which purposefully drew on the input of a wide range of stakeholders. The policy includes a range of 33 actions which seek to tackle issues such as vacancy and dereliction and aims to give our towns the tools and resources they require in order to regenerate themselves as viable and attractive places in which people and families can live, work and run a business.

Central to the policy is the fact that no two rural areas are identical. Accordingly, town centre first clearly recognises the role of locally-led town teams in developing plans that recognise their own circumstances, challenges and opportunities. The policy supports a place-based approach to development whereby town teams and communities chart the future direction of their towns based on each town’s own unique characteristics.

The implementation of the actions set out in the policy is underpinned by strategic investment schemes such as the funds I have already mentioned that are implemented by the Department of Rural and Community Development.

A number of other funding streams are directly supportive of the town centre first principles, such as the urban regeneration and development fund implemented by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the RDF’s THRIVE scheme in relation to the town centre first heritage revival, the Heritage Council’s historic towns initiative, and the Reimagine programme run by the Irish Architecture Foundation.

Some of the key milestones to date in the implementation of the policy have been the establishment of the town centre first national office within the Local Government Management Agency to drive delivery of actions at a national level, and the establishment of the national oversight and advisory group made up of key stakeholders from both Government and community and voluntary organisations. Additionally, 26 town regeneration officers have been resourced in rural local authorities to drive delivery at local level. These officers play a central role in their respective areas by supporting the formation and support of town teams, driving forward development of town centre first plans, and supporting access to funding. Indeed, the role of these officers in helping to develop high-quality project proposals that support town centre development was clearly evident in the most recent iterations of the rural regeneration and development fund and the town and village renewal scheme.

I am conscious my opening remarks represent a very brief overview of some of the key areas of intervention by the Department of Rural Community Development. I and my colleagues are very happy to answer any questions members of the committee may have and to provide any further detail which may be required.