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

I launched a call for proposals under a new phase of the REDZ initiative on 21 September this year.

Following an assessment of the applications received under this call, I announced details of 41 successful proposals which have been allocated funding of just over €5.3 million in total for REDZ projects across the country yesterday.

REDZ are functional rather than administrative areas that reflect the spatial patterns of local economic activity and development. The central objective of the REDZ model is to utilise the synergies and interdependencies between rural towns and their outlying areas to generate local economic activity. One of the strengths of the REDZ model is that it encourages local authorities and other stakeholders to work across administrative boundaries with neighbouring counties and throughout their own region. The 2016 REDZ scheme, which I announced yesterday, is providing funding for projects of differing scale and ambition that share the mutual objective of supporting economic development in rural areas. The scheme also encourages collaboration between local authorities on larger projects. The projects approved represent a diverse range of ideas covering the length and breadth of Ireland and display a commitment to collaborative working to address the challenges facing rural areas. It is interesting that the project the Deputy mentioned in his area - Ballitore Tanyard development project - got some funding from the town and village renewal scheme. It has now been able to benefit from another €100,000. It is a project that is very close to the Deputy's heart and he has spoken to me on a number of occasions about it. It is certainly a very worthwhile project and it encompasses a whole range of different aspects in terms of theatre performance space. Deputy Shortall mentioned previously the lack of studio space. These types of projects can accommodate that.

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