Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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577. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the full details of the process of the way the Urban Regeneration Development Fund applications are assessed, scored and funding awarded. [2022/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The primary focus of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is on supporting projects that will contribute to compact growth and that will improve the liveability of our cities and towns.  

To date there have been two calls for proposals under the URDF, the first in July 2018 and the second in January 2020.  Both calls were advertised widely, and the circulars for each call, setting out the objectives of the Fund, the focus of the call and application conditions, together with the application form and assessment criteria were made available through my Department’s website.

Furthermore, to assist prospective applicants with the application process, my Department also hosted a number of workshops to provide information on the purpose of the URDF, the particular focus of the call and the types of proposals that would be considered for support. 

All applications for URDF support were assessed in terms of their alignment with the intended purpose of the relevant URDF call and also their viability before being considered for approval.

The comprehensive assessment process for calls 1and 2 involved four distinct parts: -

- An initial assessment of all proposals carried out by my Department was provided to a Project Advisory Board (PAB) comprised of Department officials, specialists in the various relevant sectoral areas and representatives from other interested Government Departments/Agencies.

- The PAB considered each proposal in terms of the set URDF assessment criteria and made recommendations on suitability for consideration for URDF support.

- The PAB recommendations were reviewed by a sub-group of the Department's Management Board.

- Final recommendations were submitted for Ministerial consideration and approval.

Already, the URDF is providing significant assistance for major 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 National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan. 

To date almost €312m has been allocated in respect of the 87 projects approved under Call 1, while in March last year I announced URDF funding support of €1.3 billion in respect of a further 45 proposals approved under Call 2.