Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

During last year's election campaign, one of the most frequently raised issues on the doors of Dublin West was the vibrancy of our suburban villages. The villages of Clonsilla, Ongar, Castleknock, Blanchardstown, Mulhuddart and Tyrrelstown are more than just residential areas or urban sprawl; they are distinct communities with their own character, identity and history. My constituents want to live in places with thriving and safe main streets, quality public facilities and amenities and a genuine sense of community. The reality on the ground can be one of congestion, homogenous main streets, unutilised or derelict heritage properties or features and, sometimes, retail vacancy and turnover.

Earlier this year, I had some positive engagement with Fingal County Council on this issue. Its town regeneration office is delivering town centre first programmes in several rural Fingal communities which qualify for funding under the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. It uses a toolkit, including a health check, in collaboration with the community, businesses and the council, to set out potential solutions and projects for the village. The town and village renewal scheme, rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, CLÁR or LEADER funding are then used to fund those projects.

Obviously, a rural designation would not apply to villages in Dublin 15. However, following my representations, and recognising the value of the town centre first framework and what it would bring to urban communities, Fingal County Council agreed to step outside the box and proceed with health checks for urban villages, funded from the council's resources, later this year or in 2026. This was to include Castleknock and Blanchardstown villages. I am grateful to the council for taking this step. However, it also has a request for me. Its resources will be limited. The key challenge is that the funding streams for the delivery of projects in rural areas, the town and village renewal scheme, the RRDF, CLÁR, LEADER or funding for gathering more elaborate data and doing research under the town centre first scheme is not available for urban villages, which limits the capacity of the council to deliver transformative or regeneration projects.

We are caught in a funding gap. Our villages are too big for schemes like the town and village renewal scheme, yet too small to qualify for the urban regeneration and development fund. We will be able to diagnose the problems in Blanchardstown and Castleknock, but not necessarily fix them. Suburban villages in my constituency are simply falling through the cracks of the existing funding streams. We need revisions to the town and village renewal scheme and the new towns and cities investment fund or the urban regeneration development fund to enable this much-needed regeneration work across urban communities. It is not just my constituency that would be impacted by this.

I raised this with the Taoiseach previously and he acknowledged the problem. He suggested I speak to the Minister for public expenditure. I am now coming to the Minister of State. There is a systemic funding gap and it requires a clear and practical solution. The solution is simple and we are staring right at it. We need to revise these schemes, especially for those identified for health checks under the town centre first policy.

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