Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the progress on the pilot scheme to encourage residential occupancy in rural towns and villages as committed to under the Action Plan for Rural Development. [43789/19]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Action Plan for Rural Development included a commitment to develop a pilot scheme to encourage increased residential occupancy in rural towns and villages.  I launched this initiative last October and announced that six towns had been invited to participate in the initial pilot.  The towns in question are:

1.  Boyle, Co Roscommon

2.  Callan, Co Kilkenny

3.  Ballinrobe, Co Mayo

4.  Banagher, Co Offaly

5.  Castleblayney, Co Monaghan

6.  Cappoquin, Co Waterford

Funding of up to €100,000 each is being made available to these towns to develop proposals to encourage town centre living.  To date, €75,000 has been drawn down by each Local Authority involved. This funding is being used by the Local Authorities to engage with communities and local businesses to identify practical solutions to increase the number of people living in their town centres. 

Representatives from each of the participating towns meet collectively on a regular basis to discuss the issues that are emerging from their work on the pilot initiative. 

It is envisaged that the lessons learned through this pilot can help to inform the approach to supporting and investing in rural towns and villages in the future, and lead to the development of more substantive proposals for funding from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. 

I received an interim progress report from each of the Local Authorities involved in the pilot scheme earlier in the year.  A further, more comprehensive, report on the issues identified and suggested courses of action, will be produced for the Department by the end of the year.