Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

It is great to see such cross-party co-operation across the two different constituencies.

Launched in 2022, the town centre first policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. TCF supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland by setting out the scaffolding and framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant and viable places to live, work, invest in and visit.

Important developments to date include the establishment of a dedicated national town centre first office which drives the actions under the policy, the establishment of town teams nationally and the appointment of 26 town regeneration officers. These officers act as a key link between the local authority, towns and villages and their communities. More broadly, they also currently work closely across the multidisciplinary technical teams in local authorities, such as capital delivery teams, which are also funded by my Department, vacant homes officers, broadband officers and night-time economy officers, and build linkages with town teams and other stakeholders.

The new programme for Government commits to the continuing resourcing of the town centre first model and to establish a town centre regeneration team in every local authority. My Department will continue to work closely with colleagues in the national TCF office, local authorities and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure the ongoing implementation of the policy and to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages. Importantly, the town centre first approach is also underpinned by a range of capital funding streams that have been aligned with the policy aims of town centre first. These include the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme, the THRIVE scheme and the urban regeneration and development fund.

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