Written answers

Tuesday, 28 September 2021

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Derelict Sites

Photo of Thomas GouldThomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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118. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding given to Cork City Council to address dereliction given the high dereliction levels in the city. [46404/21]

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Aside from providing for the derelict sites levy - the proceeds of which are retained by local authorities - and associated provisions, the Derelict Sites Act 1990 does not address the issue of funding for local authorities to address dereliction. The proportion of the overall annual budget of each local authority, including Cork City Council, which is spent on addressing dereliction in this regard is a matter for each local authority and is unavailable in my Department. This information may be available from individual local authorities.

Specific funding, to tackle dereliction in major towns and cities, may be made available through the integrated projects being supported by the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) which was launched in 2018. This fund is targeting financial support in an integrated, dynamic and responsive way to support the regeneration and rejuvenation of our towns and cities. Already, the URDF is providing assistance for major projects that will contribute to meeting the objectives of the National Planning Framework and National Development Plan. As part of the two calls for proposals completed to date under the URDF, 6 URDF projects have been approved for Cork City Council with associated financial support for projects in Cork City of €402,886,000 over both calls.

The role of the URDF in ensuring that housing stock is used efficiently is acknowledged in Housing for All, along with a range of actions to bring vacant stock back into use. This includes the publication of the Town Centre First policy in Quarter 4 of 2021.

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