Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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77. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans to resource town centre first and establish a dedicated town regeneration team in every local authority focused on tackling vacancy and dereliction in town and villages as committed in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26324/25]

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Minister if the Department plans to resource town centre first and establish a dedicated town regeneration team in every local authority focused on tackling vacancy and dereliction in town and villages, as committed in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. I am looking over at Deputy Wall, who is from Athy in County Kildare, while I am from Leixlip. We know first-hand in County Kildare the opportunity that this would give us.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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It is great to see such cross-party co-operation across the two different constituencies.

Launched in 2022, the town centre first policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. TCF supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland by setting out the scaffolding and framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant and viable places to live, work, invest in and visit.

Important developments to date include the establishment of a dedicated national town centre first office which drives the actions under the policy, the establishment of town teams nationally and the appointment of 26 town regeneration officers. These officers act as a key link between the local authority, towns and villages and their communities. More broadly, they also currently work closely across the multidisciplinary technical teams in local authorities, such as capital delivery teams, which are also funded by my Department, vacant homes officers, broadband officers and night-time economy officers, and build linkages with town teams and other stakeholders.

The new programme for Government commits to the continuing resourcing of the town centre first model and to establish a town centre regeneration team in every local authority. My Department will continue to work closely with colleagues in the national TCF office, local authorities and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure the ongoing implementation of the policy and to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages. Importantly, the town centre first approach is also underpinned by a range of capital funding streams that have been aligned with the policy aims of town centre first. These include the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme, the THRIVE scheme and the urban regeneration and development fund.

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. He referenced the rural but I am also conscious of Kildare, which has the unique issue that it has a number of large towns, like Athy and Newbridge in the south, and Monasterevin, Clane, Celbridge, Leixlip, Naas, Maynooth and Kilcock in the north. We can see where dereliction has impacted those towns and where there is a need for regeneration. We have a great team in Kildare County Council but it is small, with just one or two individuals who are actually going out to try to tackle that dereliction. We know that through the laws and even through the courts, some of the issues can be blocked.

My mother is from outside Boyle, County Roscommon, and I have seen how Boyle has been rejuvenated. We can see the benefit of town centre first and how it comes together. A lot of that has been done through Government funding and the purchase of a local hotel. I have seen how it can work and how we can have positive solutions in some areas. What I want is to have that rolled out across the country, starting with County Kildare at Leixlip, Celbridge, Kilcock and down to Athy, where Deputy Wall is from.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Does Deputy Wall wish to come in?

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I do. I cannot let the occasion go without putting on the white jersey as well, which is what we do regularly in County Kildare across the parties. Deputy Neville is right that there is a huge issue in the major towns of County Kildare. The population of Kildare is very urban-based and town regeneration is needed. I welcome the fact there are town regeneration officers in County Kildare. As Deputy Neville said, they are doing great work but they need to be properly resourced and need additional resources. My home town of Athy has started a scheme where we are trying to put money together to regenerate the town and give it a lick of paint for the summer and all the festivals that may come there. I believe more resources should be put into this by the Government, as Deputy Neville said. Every town needs a facelift and needs regeneration. I acknowledge the start by the Government but we need to do more. We need to put in extra resources, as Deputy Neville has said.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Wall for his contribution. We did not organise this but, at the same time, we are speaking with one voice because we know the issues at hand. I am sure that other counties could do the same. I thank the Minister for his depth of knowledge and his interest in the topic. We need to ensure this gets rolled out.