Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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388. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the towns and village centres in County Meath have been selected under the Realising our Rural Potential: Action Plan for Rural Development to encourage residential occupancy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4063/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Rural Development contains a number of measures which have the objective of rejuvenating Ireland’s rural towns and villages to make them more attractive places in which to live and work, and to increase their tourism potential. This is just one element of a much more comprehensive Plan aimed at addressing both the economic and social needs of rural Ireland through a whole-of-Government approach. As part of Budget 2017, I have secured funding of €12 million for an enhanced Town and Village Renewal scheme this year. This represents a trebling of the original 2016 baseline allocation of €4 million for the scheme. The Town and Village Renewal Scheme for 2017 will be launched shortly and towns and villages involved in the scheme, including in County Meath, will be selected through an application and assessment process. The scheme will be funded by my Department and administered by the Local Authorities.

As part of the scheme, I intend to launch a pilot project to encourage residential occupancy in rural towns and villages. This pilot will be launched separately in the second half of the year, when details of the scheme have been finalised in consultation with relevant Departments. The pilot will examine ways in which properties that are currently not in use in town centres can be renovated to allow them to be used for residential purposes.