Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will have detected that there is no objection in principle from my side of the House on this issue. If anything helps to refurbish town centres and city centres, it must be good, because we see the way all development is spreading to the suburbs. It must be good to bring back life into city and town centre areas.

Will the Minister make available the cost-benefit analysis that was done? The Comptroller and Auditor General always looks at such schemes, and the cost versus the benefit will be examined. The Minister indicated that an independent person helped with the designations. Did the designations have to be approved by the elected members, or was it strictly an executive function? Did the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government or anyone else approve the areas for designation? Normally, such matters relating to town centres are planning issues, which are pertinent to the Department. I presume all the maps are on the website. When did the Minister sign the designations?

I understand there were delays with the approval of the scheme in Brussels. What are the key differences between what we have now and what the Minister originally hoped to introduce when he first announced the scheme?

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