Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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10. To ask the Minister for Finance the actions he is taking to ensure that the living city initiative is brought into force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17542/15]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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What impact has the living city initiative the Minister announced over three years ago had to date and when will it be fully brought into force, so that we see some results from this?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The living city initiative was commenced and launched on 5 May 2015. It is an urban regeneration incentive which focuses on the regeneration of the historic centres of six cities. This initiative is a scheme of property tax reliefs which applies in certain "special regeneration areas" in the centres of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Kilkenny, particularly those areas which are most in need of regeneration. This is not a widespread initiative, as it is targeted at those areas which are most in need of attention. The aim of the living city incentive is to bring life back into the heart of the relevant cities by offering tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of certain buildings where conditions are met. Planning for the scheme has included a thorough ex antecost-benefit analysis, and recommendations from relevant agencies.

The residential element of the living city initiative provides for an income tax deduction for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of a building for use as a dwelling, over a ten-year period.

The building must have been constructed before 1915 and must be located in a special regeneration area of the city in question.

The commercial element of the living city initiative provides for capital allowances over a seven-year period in respect of qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of a property located in a special regeneration area for use for the purpose of retailing goods or the provision of services within the State. The amount of tax relief available under the commercial element of the incentive is effectively capped at €200,000 for any individual project.

Information on the scheme is available on the websites of the relevant councils, and also on the Department of Finance's website at . A document containing frequently asked questions was published by the Revenue Commissioners. Maps of the special regeneration areas are available on that website and also on the websites of the relevant local authorities.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. First, am I correct in saying the original plan was for the initiative to commence in Limerick and Waterford? What has been the take-up in those areas? In a way, they were a sample of what the scheme would generate in time to come.

Second, we have often had schemes like this in the past and sometimes they did not really take off. My main concern in those four cities is to ensure there is a dedicated person who understands the system in the relevant local authority. It is all well and good to refer to the website, but what will happen is that when one rings the finance department in a council, on the basis that it is a finance matter, the finance department will say it is a planning matter, the planning people will say it is a zoning matter and so on. The caller will have to go through many rigours, and will then be told he or she requires advance approval from the Revenue Commissioners. Is there is a single one-stop shop? The website is fine, but I have previously found that although such schemes are devised by the Department, nobody takes personal ownership of them at director of services level - as these issues can cross different directorships - and sometimes they fail on that basis. Why did it take until Tuesday to publish the information?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Schemes along these lines must be cleared in Brussels at Commission level. When the initial proposal was put to the authorities in Brussels, certain difficulties emerged, so there was a rethink and the scheme was extended to the six main cities. The local authorities were charged with designating the areas they considered suitable. An independent outside consultant was retained to give independent adjudication on whether the areas being included were appropriate. All that has been resolved now, and the six local authorities have designated their areas. The Revenue Commissioners have the arrangements in place for the tax relief. It is now up to the private sector to see whether there will be an uptake.

It is very difficult to know, when one conceives of such schemes, whether there will be an uptake. Much depends on the amount of credit in the community and the level of the incentives. In this case the incentives are of two kinds. If, for example, somebody purchases a pre-1915 house in Waterford and pays €100,000 for it, if the person then puts another €100,000 into the refurbishment, he or she can write off €10,000 a year for ten years against income tax. Previously, the write-offs were not against income tax, and the persons concerned had to be owner-occupiers. That will suit some people. For the commercial sector, there are capital allowances for seven years, with a cap of €200,000. It is possible to combine the two. One could refurbish a shop with an apartment overhead that is owner-occupied and avail of the double relief. I hope it works. The scheme is generous. It is in the hands of the local authorities now to drive it, but I understand they are very interested.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister will have detected that there is no objection in principle from my side of the House on this issue. If anything helps to refurbish town centres and city centres, it must be good, because we see the way all development is spreading to the suburbs. It must be good to bring back life into city and town centre areas.

Will the Minister make available the cost-benefit analysis that was done? The Comptroller and Auditor General always looks at such schemes, and the cost versus the benefit will be examined. The Minister indicated that an independent person helped with the designations. Did the designations have to be approved by the elected members, or was it strictly an executive function? Did the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government or anyone else approve the areas for designation? Normally, such matters relating to town centres are planning issues, which are pertinent to the Department. I presume all the maps are on the website. When did the Minister sign the designations?

I understand there were delays with the approval of the scheme in Brussels. What are the key differences between what we have now and what the Minister originally hoped to introduce when he first announced the scheme?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The major difference is that it extends between the two cities originally involved in the pilot studies. In general terms, there was consultation between the Department of Finance, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the local authorities. The tendency of the local authorities is to designate the biggest area possible, but of course that does not always make commercial sense, because if one spreads the benefits too wide one may not get an uptake. There will be an uptake if the area is concentrated. The areas have been agreed by all sides and I signed the orders this week.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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What about publication of the cost-benefit analysis?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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We must move on to Question No. 11.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I will see. It may be published already. I am not sure what the position is. There is nothing secret about it. We will publish what we can publish.