Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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100. To ask the Minister for Finance if the towns of Drogheda and Dundalk will be included in the living city initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28811/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Living City Initiative was enacted in the Finance Act 2013 and commenced on 5th May 2015. The Initiative was extended beyond the original planned pilot cities of Limerick and Waterford, to include the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny. In line with my Department's commitment to evidence based policy-making, the inclusion of these additional four cities followed the completion of a comprehensive, independent ex-ante cost benefit analysis.

To date, take-up of the scheme has been lower than anticipated and as a result the Government has committed to introducing changes to the Initiative to make it more effective. Analysis is being undertaken, including a review of the initial take-up, in order to learn more about how the Initiative might be more effective. The aim is to get the design of the Initiative right so that it can work in an effective manner. Once this is achieved, it will then be possible to consider how, or if, the Initiative could be extended to other locations. The Deputy will be aware of a further commitment in the Programme for Partnership Government, to examine the introduction of a similar scheme to the "Living City Initiative" to regenerate town centres and villages throughout Ireland. It is important that the underpinning scheme is made more effective, as until that has been achieved, extension of eligibility for it to other towns would be largely meaningless.

Any announcements in relation to the Initiative will be made in the context of the Budget and Finance Bill.