Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

545. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development his views on continuing with the current annual limit imposed of 15 applications per county to the town and village renewal scheme; and if an analysis or costings to date have been completed on increasing the limit per county or adapting to a per capita basis per county. [22520/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme is a key part of the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development. A particular objective of the scheme is to target the towns and villages that were badly hit by the recent recession and might benefit most from the scheme. In that context, I do not believe that increasing the limits in respect of the number of applications submitted by county, or adopting a per capita basis per county, will necessarily achieve that aim.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Town and Village Renewal scheme was launched in the second half of 2016 and it is being enhanced and adapted on an ongoing basis with the aim of ensuring the revitalization of towns and villages across the country.

Under the 2016 scheme, each county received an allocation of €380,000 and each Local Authority was invited to submit up to 8 projects for approval by my Department.

In 2017, a competitive process was introduced, with a strong emphasis on measures that would have a strong economic impact on towns and villages. Each Local Authority was invited to submit a maximum of 15 applications for consideration by my Department. All applications were assessed against the scheme criteria and successful applications were selected on the basis of merit.

Under the 2018 scheme which I announced recently, each Local Authority has been invited to submit a maximum of 12 projects for consideration. While the selection of applications will again be based on merit, as outlined in the scheme documentation my Department will endeavour to select at least 4 projects in each county, depending on the quality of the proposals received, in order to ensure a reasonable geographic spread.  The 2018 scheme is again encouraging applications in respect of projects that can bring a positive economic impact to towns and villages and I am hoping to approve a higher number of large-scale projects that meet this objective.  It is for this reason that I have asked Local Authorities to submit a slightly lower number of proposals than in 2017.

Over 450 projects have been funded across the country under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme since it was introduced in the second half of 2016.  The Government’s commitment to supporting rural Ireland is underscored through Project Ireland 2040, which will see the creation of a new €1 billion Rural Regeneration and Development Fund to be launched shortly.  This new Fund will provide an opportunity to deliver more integrated and ambitious projects which will further support the revitalisation of our rural towns and villages.