Written answers

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Departmental Projects

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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503. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps that he is taking to ensure that local authorities have adequate flexibility in the recruitment of the multidisciplinary competencies necessary for active travel teams and town teams, as outlined in Government policy and funding initiatives. [29553/22]

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to ensuring that the local government sector remains vibrant and sustainable and is well equipped and properly resourced to deliver the key functions within its remit. The local government sector is embarking on a significant expansion of activities across a range of areas including Active Travel and Town Centre First, both of which are Programme for Government commitments and depend on a level of local authority input to deliver.

Where a new programme initiative is proposed that requires implementation at local authority level, the initiative will be brought by the relevant Department to the County and City Managers Association (CCMA) for discussion and agreement particularly with regard to the number, grade and funding of staff required to deliver the programme.

In the case of Active Travel which was brought before the CCMA, the National Transport Authority developed a categorisation system with indicative staffing resource requirements across all local authorities as well as increases in dedicated active travel resources within the Regional Design Offices. The NTA identified the appropriate analogous grades to deliver the significantly increased programme of active travel infrastructure and the local authorities are resourcing the programme as required.

The Town Centre First policy which was launched in February provides a co-ordinated, whole-of-government policy framework to proactively address the decline in the health of towns across Ireland and support measures to regenerate and revitalise them. Under the policy it is proposed to appoint a Town Regeneration Officer (TROs) in local authorities to support the implementation of Town Centre First and work with local Town Teams drawn from the local community. The Department of Rural and Community Development who is funding these posts is currently finalising the job specification and requirements with the CCMA with a view to enabling recruitment of TROs in the coming months.

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