Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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402. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the roll-out of town centre health checks on a county basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39754/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The roll-out of a pilot programme for town centre health checks is primarily a matter for the Heritage Council. The Council, in collaboration with my Department, the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, related agencies and professional practitioners who are experienced in town-centre revitalisation, urban design, heritage and environmental management in Ireland and elsewhere, have developed a collaborative pilot Town Centre Health Check (TCHC) training programme in late 2016. This pilot programme follows on from a heritage–led regeneration approach to towns within my own Department during the development of the Historic Towns Initiative Pilot and other urban regeneration schemes, such as the Living City Initiative.

I view the pilot TCHC training programme as another tool which will assist in Rural Development and Urban Regeneration and the revitalisation of our historic towns and villages.

The pilot is being monitored and evaluated as it progresses and a process evaluation report will be prepared in May 2017 for review by the Heritage Council and my Department. Further information is available from the Heritage Council and on their website www.heritagecouncil.ie.