Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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56. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will introduce a new scheme of urban renewal for our town centres many of which are becoming dilapidated and run down due to business failures in order to encourage development and job creation by small and medium enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43377/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy may be aware of the Living City Initiative, which was enacted in the Finance Act 2013, and includes the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny as well the original target cities of Limerick and Waterford.

The Living City Initiative is a targeted pilot tax incentive which aims to: encourage people back to the centre of Irish cities to live in older buildings; and encourage the regeneration of central business districts.

The Initiative will provide tax incentives for works performed to refurbish residential and retail buildings either to bring them up to a habitable standard or to make improvements to buildings which are currently inhabited. The residential incentives will be targeted at owner/occupiers rather than property developers or the rental sector.

Officials from my Department have held preliminary discussions with the relevant local authorities to identify the areas of the six cities, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford, which might fall within the scope of the scheme. Each of the local authorities have submitted proposals on the areas which they believe should be included. 

I would expect that I will be in a position to make an announcement on the areas to be designated in the near future. It is important to note that I do not see this as a wide-spread Initiative, as it is targeted at those areas which are most in need of attention.