Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here. My question concerns the development of the Riverbank Arts Centre and the new Kildare branch library. In the late 1990s, I was involved with a group of like-minded people who lobbied for an arts centre in Newbridge. Eventually, the Riverbank Arts Centre opened its doors in 2001 as County Kildare's arts centre. The centre has given great service and I give credit to Caroline Williams and her team for the multidisciplinary approach they have taken, bringing theatre with international, national and local elements, and for what they do for young people. The centre also has an art gallery. However, the building has gone beyond its original purpose. Riverbank Arts centre is County Kildare's arts centre. The population of the county has reached 270,000. In the latest census, population growth in County Kildare was recorded as almost 14%, which is almost twice the rate of other counties. The theatre was never comfortable. I am short and I find it difficult to fit into the narrow seats so I can imagine taller and larger people find the seating very uncomfortable. In fact, they have ceased to go there and instead go to other theatre spaces. There was great jubilation when, in 2017, Riverbank Arts Centre was awarded what was at the time a substantial amount of money from the Department of arts. Along with Wexford, it was awarded €1 million by the Department. The venues were the only two in the country to receive that funding. They were to become flagship projects for the Department, and rightly so. We all looked forward to that. Has anything happened since? Absolutely not. Eight or nine years later, there is an excellent board, chaired by Paul Davis, comprising volunteers who are putting their time and energy into the project. They have gone through Part 8 and have tendered for and have a terrific design, but nothing has happened.

Riverbank Arts Centre is where the old vocational school was in Newbridge and beside it is the county library and the Newbridge branch library. The county library was built in the 1930s and there is a preservation order on it. There are many health and safety concerns and refurbishment work will start there. The Newbridge branch library was built in the 1970s as an extension. It is not a building of any importance, but there is now an agreement, through national funding and local property tax funding, that the library will be moved across the bridge for a year or 18 months while a three-storey library, which will suit all ages, is developed. That is very welcome, but it does not make sense for there to be three elements in the one space.

Out of the three spaces, two would have work carried out on them in early 2026. It makes no sense that work on the Riverbank Arts Centre would not go ahead at the same time. As night follows day, two buildings would be completed and funding would come through for Riverbank and we would have to start all over again. I appeal for the funding to be provided to complete the work in Riverbank and make it fully accessible, something we should ask for in all public buildings. I ask that the seating be made more comfortable. It would be a landmark building and space for the entrance to Newbridge.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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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.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. Before I call on Senator O'Loughlin to reply, I welcome Mr. Joe Druhan, Fr. Richard Redmond and Fr. Odhrán Furlong to our Distinguished Visitors Gallery. They are guests of the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Verona Murphy. They are very welcome.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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With the greatest of respect to the Minister of State, I might as well tear up this response because there is absolutely nothing in it on development and particularly on River Bank Arts Centre. I am sure the Minister of State agrees that it makes far more sense to be able to have the full jigsaw, so to speak, happening at the same time. Meanwhile, there is €1 million unspent years after it was awarded, its value totally diminished from what €1 million could have provided at the time, and it is languishing without some more funding to top it up.

I accept Kildare County Council has been allocated significant moneys under the URDF. That is essentially about unlocking housing but we have to have amenities to support those who come to live in those houses. The infrastructure in Kildare has totally deteriorated because it is a commuter county and has been successful in building houses. I do appreciate that there is funding for the library. As the Minister of State says, funding could and should be provided by the Department of arts. I have called for a capital funding programme, similar to the sports capital programme, for arts facilities. That is really important. I want the Minister of State to bring the message back to the Minister that Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge is thriving for what it is, but we need far more investment in the cultural, educational and social future of those who use it. The public realm the Minister of State mentioned will not follow until all those elements come into place. What comes first? In my view, the building work on those three adjacent sites has to be completed and then we have the public realm and what comes after that. I thank the Acting Chair for his indulgence.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Once again, I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important matter, which I am talking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. I understand how genuine Senator O'Loughlin is on this matter. In line with the programme for Government, there was an intention to expand URDF estimates as part of the towns and cities infrastructure investment fund. Arrangements for the implementation of this funding is still under development and will be clarified further once the NDP review process is complete. However, in relation to the proposed library project, given that the main source of funding for libraries is provided by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht's library capital programme, the Senator may wish to engage with that Department or the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport regarding the River Bank Arts Centre.

I understand that the Senator wants to get the work on the River Bank Arts Centre and Newbridge library done concurrently. The funding for both of those projects, as the Senator will be aware, comes from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. It provides a contribution towards securing and enhancing existing arts and cultural facilities under the cultural capital scheme. The funding for libraries comes from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht's library capital programme. I expect the Senator has been in contact with both Departments to discuss the funding for both of those projects.The Senator might follow up with them again and then revert to the Department regarding the situation with the public realm works. I will bring the issues raised back to the Minister, Deputy Browne, but the Senator might also follow up in his own way with the Department too.