Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2021, as one of the successful applications under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund's (URDF) second call for proposals, I announced a preliminary allocation of €7,140,000 towards Wicklow County Council's proposal for the regeneration of the Bray Harbour Area. The proposal, made up of 6 individual projects, includes amenity and public realm works, promenade boardwalk linking the promenade with the harbour, a cycle bridge, and a feasibility study to examine options to enhance the amenities of the existing harbour, such as a harbour wall extension.

In line with URDF policy, the preliminary allocation of €7,140,000 represents the maximum 75% URDF grant funding available for an approved project. Wicklow County Council propose to fund, from its own resources, the remaining 25% of the overall estimated project costs of €9,520,000.

On the 27 November 2023, Wicklow County Council submitted a Preliminary Business Case for the Bray Harbour proposal to my Department for consideration and approval as part of Decision Gate 1 of the Public Spending Code. At present the submission is still under consideration by my Department, with a response expected to issue to the Council shortly.

As the Bray Harbour proposal is at a very early stage in its advancement, no funding has been drawn down to date from my Department.