Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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312. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a funding application was received under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund for Blackpool from Cork City Council in 2020; and if so, the reason this was rejected. [62504/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was launched in 2018 to support more compact and sustainable development. The URDF is one of four funds established under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and my Department has responsibility for its implementation.

The Fund is providing part-funding for applicant led projects that will enable a greater proportion of residential and mixed-use development to be delivered within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and large towns, while also ensuring that more parts of our urban areas can become attractive and vibrant places in which people choose to live and work, as well as to invest and to visit.

The URDF, as a key activator of the National Planning Framework (NPF) and Project Ireland 2040, is supporting a programme of significant transformational capital projects that will contribute to the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the NPF and PI 2040. All applications for URDF support are assessed in terms of their alignment with the intended purpose of the URDF programme and also their viability before being considered for approval.

To date there have been two calls for proposals under the URDF, the second of which was launched in January 2020. No funding application was received, under that call, from Cork City Council in respect of Blackpool.