Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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352. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the pilot scheme to turn rural pubs into remote working hubs; the funding provided to the scheme to date; the number of rural pubs converted into remote working hubs to date under the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12175/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.

The first work programme for Our Rural Future included a commitment to introduce a pilot programme for the use of rural pubs as hubs to serve as community spaces.   I am pleased to confirm that my Department is working well with the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) to commence this pilot programme.  This pilot project will examine and pilot the possibilities to use pubs for community purposes outside of their normal trading hours. The VFI will pursue an initiative supporting rural pubs to re-imagine their existing business and introduce new service offerings with a view to developing a more sustainable and viable operating model.   I expect to announce further details of this pilot shortly.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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353. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the designation of pathfinder towns pursuant to the town centre first policy; the details of the towns designated to date; when all pathfinder towns will be designated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12205/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Town Centre First (TCF) represents a major new policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres.  It contains 33 actions which will give our towns the tools and resources they need to become more viable and attractive places in which to live, work, socialise and run a business.  Included in the actions is the establishment of a Town Centre First National Office and the appointment of Town Regeneration Officers. 

To further ensure that effective best-practice drives the implementation of TCF, a number of ‘Pathfinder’ and ‘Early Stage’ towns will be identified nationally to act as early priority demonstrators of the TCF approach. This will include towns that are at different stages of the TCF process who will be supported through the different funding streams underpinning the policy.

A central objective of TCF is to assist those towns that in the past have not had sufficient capacity to shape their own development. The Pathfinder Towns will help to inform the approach to supporting towns that are at an earlier stage in the TCF process and particularly those towns which have not historically been in a position to leverage investment opportunities.

On 9 December 2021 I announced €2.6 million in funding to deliver Town Centre First Plans in 26 pathfinder towns across the country. The list of the 26 towns are shown in Table 1 below.  The €2.6 million funding will support each local authority, working with a collaborative Town Team, to develop a bespoke Town Centre First plan to guide the development of each town. As part of the initiative, each local authority will be provided with €100,000 to support the development of a unique vision for the town which will also outline specific interventions required to deliver on this vision. 

Other pathfinder towns will be selected as the TCF policy is rolled out and will be identified in collaboration with the new Town Centre First National Office.

Table 1:Towns selected for funding under the Masterplan Initiative 2021