Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. I wish to clarify that the provision of library services, including the provision of library buildings, is primarily a matter for local authorities in their capacities as library authorities under the Local Government Act 2001. In addition, the libraries capital programme for the period 2018 to 2027 is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Rural, Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

With regard to the arts centre, while mainly funded by local authorities, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sports currently provides grants as a contribution towards securing and enhancing existing arts and cultural facilities under its cultural capital scheme. Notwithstanding all of this, under call 1 of my Department's urban regeneration development fund, URDF, dating back to 2018, Kildare County Council submitted a successful proposal for funding the Newbridge cultural and civic quarter. My Department provided €92,000 in funding towards technical assistance and design work for a number of projects in the proposal. These projects included the design and Part 8 process for the Kildare Central Library and to progress design plans for public realm works on the Newbridge Main Street. They also included funding towards a feasibility study for St. Conleth's Square, which incorporated a proposed climate action centre and a new public space at the rear of the town hall. These technical assistance and design works, all of which have now been completed, outline plans for better linkages along Newbridge Main Street through an approved public realm between the River Liffey linear park, the county library and the Riverbank Arts Centre, which the Senator has name-checked.

The intention of the funding was to allow Kildare County Council to provide a proof of concept on these projects, bringing them through various stages of design and planning and having them ready for submission under appropriate funding schemes as they subsequently arise.A flagship of Project Ireland 2040, the URDF is targeted to support the regeneration and rejuvenation of our cities and key towns, such as Newbridge. In keeping with this aim, the national planning framework was launched in 2018 with committed Exchequer funding of €2 billion. The review of the NDP in 2021 extended the URDF to 2030. To date, Kildare County Council has been provisionally allocated €21,922,032 in URDF support towards its seven successful proposals approved in the first two rounds of the URDF funding allocation. A further €7 million has been allocated towards the third and most recent round of funding, which is supporting a programme of acquisitions in each local authority to address long-term vacancy and dereliction. An interactive GIS story map site containing details of all the successful projects under call 1 and call 2 provide members of the public access to up-to-date information on the URDF-supported projects at local authority level. The site is available through the URDF website, www.gov.ie/urdf.