Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tipperary County Council has put forward two important projects for the town of Clonmel. It is awaiting a response and a decision by two Departments. The library in Clonmel has made an application for library capital funding through the Department of Rural and Community Development. This is a really ambitious project to redevelop the main library in Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel. It is a €10 million project and covers three floors. The existing library is not fit for purpose. It will enhance the whole of Mick Delahunty Square right outside the council offices. It will make that entire area very much a public space with public offices, the library and the tax office. It fits in with the town centre first policy of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her Department. From the perspective of people living in the town it is a really important project which needs to be supported.

Tipperary County Council has applied for another project under the Department of Transport, which is to redevelop Clonmel town centre as part of the public realm enhancement of the town centre.This is part of an overall redevelopment of the whole town of Clonmel, including Kickham Barracks. It applied to the urban regeneration development fund about a year and a half ago. It was a massive €50 million project to redevelop the town but it was unsuccessful. One of the reasons it was unsuccessful was that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, said other Departments have to step up and support it as well. The reason I raise this is that the county council and director of services for Clonmel have done what the Minister asked. They asked other Departments to support it. They need to make a decision before the next round of the urban regeneration development fund is set up and before Clonmel puts its application forward for that. We need a decision as quickly as possible. They keep coming back looking for further information, whether it is the Department of Transport or the Department of the environment. We are now at a stage where this application has been ready to go for a number of years but they keep coming back for further information. If they would just make the decision so that when they do, we will be ready with an application to put forward to the urban regeneration development fund.