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

Ithank the Deputy for raising the issue, in which I have a great interest. The pilot town centre living initiative was launched in October 2018 to explore in a holistic way how to encourage increased residential occupancy in rural towns and villages. The pilot focused on six towns with different characteristics in different parts of the country. Funding of up to €100,000 was made available to each of the participating local authorities to support their work. An independent report on the pilot town centre living initiative was published on 22 June. The report outlines the approach taken by each town under the pilot and sets out the key issues identified to encourage the increased living in town centres and the repurposing of vacant properties for residential purposes. The report, which is available on gov.ie, highlights the multiplicity of factors that need to be addressed that cuts across a number of Departments and agencies. Based on the common issues identified across the six towns in the pilot and the suggested follow up actions presented in the independent report, I do not think it is necessary to extend the pilot initiative. However, all local authorities can benefit from taking on board the findings of the report, including the importance of consultation with local communities, property owners on town centre development, the value of developing a shared vision or master plan for the town and programmes, such as the rural regeneration and development fund, and the town and village renewal scheme can provide funding for projects which emerge from this process, subject to meeting the required criteria and the quality of the proposal.

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