Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for his question and his ongoing interest in this area. We launched the town centre first policy in 2022. It a major cross-Government policy to tackle vacancy and combat dereliction, and in doing so to breathe new life into town centres. Town centre first complements other policies, including Our Rural Future and Housing for All as well as the national planning framework, which also aims to tackle vacancy and dereliction.

Town centre first also seeks to achieve balanced regional development and support local communities. We have aligned major funding streams with town centre first, including the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme, the urban regeneration and development fund and the THRIVE scheme. The rural regeneration and development scheme is a major capital investment programme supporting large-scale, ambitious projects delivering sustainable economic and social development in rural areas. The town and village renewal scheme, introduced by my Department in 2016, is designed to rejuvenate rural towns and villages throughout Ireland. A range of other support funding has also been put in place by Government. Town centre first was developed in conjunction with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Bringing Back Homes details over 20 incentives, funded measures and grants that seek to address vacancy and dereliction. Supports include the vacant property refurbishment grant under the croí cónaithe initiative, the repair and leasing scheme, the buy and renew scheme, and the living city initiative.

I am fully committed to the success of the town centre first policy and to working with our town teams across the country, with colleagues in the Oireachtas and with the local authorities. I would also encourage the local authorities to make greater use of the powers they have available to them to address dereliction in town and village centres and to address every building that can be addressed through existing powers. Any building that is taken out of dereliction rejuvenates a town and there needs to be a lot more proactivity on the part of local authorities in doing that.

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