Written answers

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

Urban Renewal Schemes

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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405. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the measures-supports his Department is taking to support and revitalise town centres. [16687/14]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The downturn in economic activity associated with the recession has resulted in significant numbers of shop closures and vacant units in town centres. Other factors, such as upward only rent reviews, parking charges, rising energy costs and on-line trading, have also undermined the viability of small and medium-sized businesses in the retail sector, threatening the fabric of our urban centres.

To help address this issue, a number of initiatives have been taken by my Department in recent years, as follows:

- local authorities were requested to exercise restraint, or where possible, to reduce commercial rates and local charges to assist local businesses in the current economic climate – the vast majority of local authorities have responded positively to this request,

- revised development contribution guidelines were introduced last year requesting planning authorities to put in place reduced development contributions to support town centre development and incentivise activity in the areas prioritised for development in the relevant core strategy,

- the publication of new guidelines on retail planning last year aimed at promoting and supporting the vitality and viability of city and town centres. These guidelines retained the previous caps on store size in less populated and smaller towns, and were aimed at striking the right balance to ensure that local monopolies are not created in smaller towns which would be detrimental to competition.

In terms of Government action other than by my Department in providing assistance to retail businesses and stimulating economic activity in local communities, a number of measures have been introduced since 2011, including –

- the introduction of a 9% rate of VAT on certain goods and services,

- the halving of the lower rate of employers’ PRSI,

- the introduction of the microenterprise Loan Scheme and Credit Guarantee Scheme, both of which have had take-up from the retail sector, and

- the extension of seed capital and the employment and investment incentive scheme to the retail sector.

My Department remains committed to working with other Government Departments, with local government and with other community development and enterprise stakeholders with a view to providing a clear framework for addressing urban centre decline and its impacts on the retail sector, and will continue to explore all options for further action in this regard.

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