Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the pilot scheme to provide funding for the renovation of rural houses in towns and villages; if there will be adequate funding for same for in budget 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38585/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The primary objective behind the pilot scheme is to encourage people to return to living in town centres as part of the effort to revitalise rural towns and villages. A Steering Group, chaired by my Department, was established to examine the issue. A lot of consideration has been given by the Steering Group to the best approach to developing a model which will deliver on the stated objective.

As the Deputy will be aware, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to rejuvenating towns and villages in rural Ireland. The factors which attract people to live in particular settlements can be many and varied, including the availability of schools, shops, transport and other services. Apart from the need to identify suitable properties which may be available for residential purposes, it is important that the right infrastructure and services are in place to make the town attractive and safe for people and families to live in. This requires supports that renovation grants alone cannot deliver.

The Steering Group noted that some schemes such as the Home Renovation Incentive Scheme are already available to home owners for refurbishment and improvements, while other schemes which have specifically attempted to focus on the renovation of vacant properties have had a disappointing take-up.

It is clear that if we are to successfully encourage people to return to living in town centres, an integrated solution involving all aspects of town living and supporting infrastructure, needs to be considered.

The Steering Group has agreed that a pilot scheme, which takes a holistic approach to town centre living, be piloted in a small number of towns initially, with a view to a wider roll-out over time if the pilot is successful. This approach, which I have approved, will allow a number of Local Authorities to develop and test different models which they feel are appropriate to a small number of selected towns of different sizes and in different locations. The learnings from this approach will help to provide an indication as to what might work well for similar types of town on a wider scale.