Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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6. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on how the town and village renewal scheme can be utilised for the benefit of rural Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19844/16]

Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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It is no secret that small towns and villages across rural County Limerick were affected by the financial crash in 2008. What are the Minister’s views on how the town and village renewal scheme can be utilised for the benefit of rural Ireland?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, has shown that rural towns have felt the impact of the economic challenges of recent years more acutely than cities and larger urban centres. This significant deterioration of many small towns and villages throughout the country is clearly visible in the form of empty shops, abandoned buildings, vacant lands and a generally poor environment to live in or visit. Targeted action is needed to arrest this decline and instead harness the regeneration potential of our towns and villages to support a now recovering economy.

The introduction of a new scheme to support town and village regeneration is part of a concerted effort to support the development of rural towns and villages not only as a component of a broader approach to rural development, but also to improve the environment of rural dwellers in a way that will increase their quality of life and simultaneously enhance their potential to support economic activity in their area in the future.

I will shortly launch the 2016 town and village renewal scheme, which will be delivered by local authorities, in conjunction with local communities and development organisations. The type of projects to be funded under this initiative will primarily be a matter for local authorities to identify in partnership with their communities. However, the overall intention of the funding would be to focus on public spaces, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the town or village as a local commercial and social centre, enhancing its environment and tackling minor physical infrastructural deficits and land assembly issues. The 2016 scheme will be strategically focused on the rural towns and villages that require assistance to stimulate new development and regeneration locally. It will specifically target small towns and villages with populations of 5,000 or less.

Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the town and village renewal scheme. It is a welcome development. In my town, Rathkeale, local city and county councils invested in the town quite considerably. There is municipal building capital and a major new employer has come into the town in the past two years, which is indicative of the economic recovery. The town also has the main GAA pitch. It is welcome that we have a renewal initiative, involving streetscapes, etc., to rejuvenate the town and pull everything that is already in place together. Development is happening in spots in the town, but it needs to be harnessed and pulled together. Will the Minister consider prioritising towns based on socio-economic as well as population factors, given the socio-economic challenges faced by some towns?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Applications for the scheme will be open to all towns. I want to run the scheme through local authorities, in conjunction with local community groups. It will be up to towns to identify their priorities, in terms of what they feel is best suited to improve them. A REDZ programme was rolled out last year and a number of towns benefited. Some towns had different ideas about how they wanted to improve. Some wanted to assist shop owners to improve the appearances of shop fronts and others wanted to develop more public spaces and amenity areas. The funding is in place and I want to work with local authorities and communities, which can identify their priorities and what best suits their towns.

Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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In terms of marrying this development from a cultural and heritage perspective with the commercial development side, will the Minister consider providing some information for people on how to marry this scheme with commercial development and give towns a sense of unique identity, similar to what was done with the digital hub in Dublin, or Adare which is synonymous with tourism? Will the Minister consider such an educational outlet to help people develop a unique identity or rebrand towns?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As I said, I very much want this to be a bottom-up approach. I am quite happy to consider the different initiatives local authorities bring to me. Some local authorities have established town teams and they will establish their priorities. Under the REDZ pilot scheme that was introduced last year, Limerick received €192,000. I am familiar with a project in my county, where funding of €75,000 was made available. The local authority was able to add €125,000 from its resources, which meant a total investment in the town of €200,000. One could call this seed funding, and it can often leverage funding from other sources. Any suggestions that come forward in regard to how we can improve our towns and villages are something to which I am willing to listen.