Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I will give an update. We want the regeneration officers appointed as soon as possible. The money has been allocated so the authorities need to do this as soon as possible. We have nine appointed and three are expected to be in place early in the new year as well, but there are still a few to appoint.

I will have to liaise with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on Croí Cónaithe as it is not our scheme. I acknowledge it is envisaged the plans will cover the importance of place-making, town centre living and the social and economic purpose of the town. They should respond to emerging opportunities, such as those linked to remote working, climate action and digitalisation. The plans will also be central to addressing vacancy and dereliction. In addition to developing the plan, the funding can be used to cover any underlying analysis that may be undertaken to inform the development of the plan, capacity-building required locally for the town team or the initial delivery of some small interventions in the town, where the budget allows. This is the €100,000 allocation the 26 towns have got. The Deputy will be aware there were some in her constituency, namely Strokestown and Gort, I believe.

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