Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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506. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will introduce a new urban and village renewal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19785/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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A number of initiatives aimed at contributing to the renewal of urban centres 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 in January 2013 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 in April 2012 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 the 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 schemes 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 relevant options for further action in this regard.

Furthermore, Ireland has been allocated €1.2 billion of Structural Funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) for the period 2014 – 2020. The new ERDF regulation requires an increased focus on sustainable urban development and urban regeneration. In its Partnership Agreement with the European Commission on the new ERDF regulation, the Government has agreed that an urban development fund with a total value of €80 million will be available over the duration of the programme. Local authorities will be invited to bid for this ERDF support for projects that will contribute to the social, economic and environmental development of their urban areas. The first call for proposals will be made shortly, and it will be a matter for the local authorities to nominate appropriate projects for such funding.

A new tax relief scheme entitled the Living City Initiative was launched by the Minister for Finance earlier this month. This initiative is a targeted pilot tax incentive scheme which aims to encourage people back to the centre of Irish cities to live in older buildings (residential element), and to encourage the regeneration of central business districts (commercial element). Tax relief is available on qualifying expenditure related to the refurbishment or conversion of residential and commercial premises within the special regeneration areas of six cities (namely Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny and Waterford). Further information on the scheme can be obtained from the Department of Finance.