Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent)
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151. To ask the Minister for Finance in relation to the Living City Initiative introduced in the Budget 2013 initially covering Limerick and Waterford cities, the uptake of this initiative since it was launched; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44645/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Living City Initiative was announced as part of Finance Bill 2013. I stated at the time that the proposed scheme would be subject to a full ex-ante cost benefit analysis and would require State Aid approval from the European Commission. The cost benefit analysis was recently presented to my Department and has been published on the Department's website. On foot of the recommendations contained in this independent report, I made an announcement in my 2014 Budget Statement that I was proposing to extend the Initiative to include designated areas of four other cities. Certain other technical amendments would also be proposed in the forthcoming Finance Bill.

Following the receipt of the report, an application for EU State Aid approval will be submitted shortly to the European Commission and the evidence presented in the cost benefit analysis will form part of this application. The Initiative cannot be commenced until EU State Aid approval is received and so there are no numbers on uptake to report.