Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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92. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will report on the progress of establishing town teams under the Town Centres First Initiative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53868/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Town Centre First Policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. The policy sets out a framework to facilitate and resource each town to chart their own future through a tailored plan, developed by a collaborative Town Team, and supported by their local authority.

Key to this is the establishment of the National Implementation Office to assist in the delivery and implementation of the policy, and to co-ordinate stakeholder engagement at a national level. It is also responsible for supporting Town Regeneration Officers, or TROs, in driving implementation of the policy.

The head of the National Implementation Office has been appointed and recruitment of support staff is ongoing. Similarly, local authorities have now also begun appointing TROs who will drive the development of Town Centre First (TCF) Plans at a local level. This TCF Plan will be driven by the local community and businesses as part of a Town Team who will be supported by newly appointed Town Regeneration Officers and technical expertise within each local authority.

26 towns have been chosen initially to develop these plans, with each being funded by my Department. The plans should be tailored to the needs of each town in addressing vacancy and dereliction and in making them better places to live, work, visit and do business.

The TRO will be responsible for guiding and supporting the establishment and operation of Town Teams through the TCF process and capacity building programmes to increase the skills and capabilities of Town Teams and enable them to deliver effectively.

A number of towns across the country have already put in place structures similar to the town team model. The TROs are now engaging in towns across the country to assist the process of establishing effective town teams.

I am committed to ensuring that the continued roll out of the Town Centre First policy will work to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages as set out in Our Rural Future.