Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank both Deputies. As they acknowledged, there is a town centre first officer in Kildare. The town centre first town plan under phase 1, which was announced in December 2021 for Kildare, includes Clane, and phase 2 includes Castledermot. Through the town centre first town team support funds, we are funding teams in Monasterevin, Kilcullen and Ballymore Eustace to do their work locally. I will be visiting Athy later in the year and look forward to seeing all the work that is about to be done.

I agree with the Deputies. Deputy Neville touched on Boyle, which is a fantastic example of a town that has been regenerated through State investment and, more importantly - this applies to all of these projects - through community ownership. There is no point in multimillion State investment unless the community owns it. Boyle and Athy are good examples of where the community is driving that investment and taking ownership of the investment but, more importantly, taking ownership of the results of the investment to ensure it is protected and that it delivers the overall regeneration of the town.

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