Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Mulherin for raising this very important issue. The urban regeneration and development fund was established under Project Ireland 2040 to support more compact and sustainable development through the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland's five cities and other large towns in line with the objectives of the National Development Plan, NDP, 2018-2027 and the 20 year national planning framework, NPF. The fund is designed to enable a greater proportion of residential and mixed use development to be delivered within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and towns and to ensure more parts of our urban areas can become attractive and vibrant places in which people choose to live, work and invest and also visit.

In the 2019 budget, I have secured €71 million for the first year of the fund's operation, which will commence next year. I initiated the first call proposals under the fund in July 2018 and the deadline for submission of applications was 28 September 2018. My Department received 189 applications for funding which are currently being assessed. The assessment process is following a pre-assigned assessment criteria framework and a three-stage process with recommendations being made to a project advisory board. The board will then report to a management committee, which will make recommendations to me by the end of November.

Submissions differ in scale, complexity and are multi sectoral in nature, with a wide variety of public bodies having applied, including local authorities, Departments, State agencies and public bodies in collaboration with other sectoral partners. The proposals contain a large number of themes and sectoral areas, including urban regeneration, public realm, enterprise development, community facilities, redevelopment of existing or vacant areas, enabling strategic infrastructure to leverage further development, cultural facilities and amenity development. There are two categories of submission, category A for projects that are ready to go and category B to support the initial development of projects, such as master planning or feasibility studies to ensure a pipeline of projects into the future. The fund is oversubscribed in both categories A and B on a proportion of well over 4:1 for 2019. There is, therefore, considerable competition for this funding and investment in large towns and cities.

As the assessment process of the project advisory board is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further on individual projects at this time. However, I can indicate clearly that it is my intention to announce the first round of funding allocations as soon as possible after the assessment process has concluded later this month. I know Senator Mulherin has put much work into this particular project, is highly supportive of this application for Ballina and she sees herself as a champion for the area. She will know very shortly whether the plan has been successful under this new fund.