Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Paddy Shaffrey's 1975 book The Irish Town: An Approach to Survivalwas decades ahead of its time. It was only in recent years that policymakers began to look seriously at the challenges facing Irish market towns and to consider the potential they have as economic engines and drivers of rural hinterlands. What is also evident from Paddy's visionary publication is how much we have lost of our built heritage, the vernacular and unique character of the Irish towns, and how we deliberately and maliciously hollowed them out to exploit car-centred development on the peripheries. Now, thanks to the great work of organisations such as The Heritage Council, we are beginning to look anew at our towns and how they could provide us with solutions to the challenges we are facing.

Yesterday, my colleague, Deputy Joe O'Brien, asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to issue guidance to local authorities to allocate road space and budgets towards active travel, cycling and walking. It is time to get our towns ready for a grand revival. In adding to the discussion which took place yesterday, I wish to raise with the Minister the enterprise and job creation role of our unique market towns and how they can again become just that. If the alarming and unsustainable retail vacancy rates in our regional towns pre-Covid-19 were not sufficient to exercise the collective minds of policymakers and planners, surely what is about to follow when restrictions are lifted should. In our view, there would appear to be no clarity of thought as to the future of our urban centres and no vision as to the use of civic spaces. Local authorities need to be adequately resourced and equipped with the right set of policy tools to unlock their potential.

Our small towns could well be key to realising the potential of tens of thousands of SMEs, our craft and creative sector, sustainable living, food innovation, culture and the arts, co-operative living spaces and digital enterprise. The establishment of a town centre regeneration unit to drive the heritage-led regeneration of our town centres must be a priority for the next Government. Every town should embark on a collaborative town centre health check to build capacity, share knowledge and best practice, and learn from mistakes. It should be the default means of pooling resources to get the best out of the people who have an interest in the future of our towns. We can no longer turn our backs on our unique Irish towns. Indeed, combining technology and traditional building skills could provide thousands of creative and meaningful jobs for young people.

I have a number of questions for the Minister. Can we unlock the potential of derelict public buildings in our town centres that could be in the ownership of State agencies such as An Post and repurpose them as innovation hubs or centres for crafts at low or minimal rents? We see this as a means of bringing life back into our town centres.

In my own home town of Kilkenny, Cartoon Saloon started off as a group of young people with drawing pads and an abundance of creativity. Now, animation provides more than 400 jobs in our town centre. The saloon has been nominated four times for Academy Awards and is keeping our town centre vibrant with an influx of animators from all over the world.

Animation production companies, such as Cartoon Saloon and Lighthouse Studios in Kilkenny, have largely maintained 100% full employment during the Covid-19 crisis and have not had access to the employment supports introduced by the Government. In light of this, would the Government look at enhancing some of the supports currently in place for animation companies, particularly those in the regions? In the Finance Act 2018, the Government made provision for a short-term, tapered, regional film development uplift. The assistance took a long time to put in place and a very small number of projects have been approved for uplift. Anecdotally, I have heard that, for many production companies, it is time consuming and heavy on administration to make applications. The feedback from producers is that the rules are vague and unusual in their interpretation and do not seem to be applied as was intended, or in the spirit of the legislation, or indeed as being marketed internationally by national agencies.

On top of the time lost in the introduction of uplift, which could be nearly six months, producers could lose another year with this pandemic and with costs only increasing from changes in work practices as a result of Covid-19. Will the Minister consider maintaining the regional uplift indefinitely as part of the supports under section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act and consider not tapering off the reliefs after 2020 but maintaining the uplift at 5% on a permanent basis? Will the Minister confirm how many applications for regional uplift have been received and how many have been approved to date?

Will she outline any other supports that are planned or intended for the animation sector, which is maintaining crucial jobs in a time of great uncertainty in both large urban centres and the regions? I do not expect a detailed response to these questions today.

Finally, is the Minister aware of businesses being unable to access the temporary wage subsidy scheme due to issues with filing amendments? Can Revenue be given some leniencies in this regard to deal with businesses on a case-by-case basis? Has the Minister any plans in place specifically to assist cottage industries? We have received correspondence from owners of these generally family-run businesses who are particularly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis and have small or no cash reserves.

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