Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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18. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason he has, to date, decided not to extend the living cities initiative to Drogheda and Dundalk; if he plans to do so in Budget 2025 and the forthcoming finance Bill; if he will provide an estimate of the annual cost of extending the initiative to these County Louth towns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37979/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Living City Initiative (LCI) is a modest, targeted measure which is aimed at very specific areas in urgent need of regeneration, it is provided for under sections 372AAA to 372AAD of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. It offers income or corporation tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred in the refurbishment and conversion of qualifying residential and commercial buildings located within ‘Special Regeneration Areas' (SRAs) in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

The SRAs were designated by the Minister for Finance on the advice of the relevant city councils and an independent review by a third party advisor. Specific criteria were set down in respect of the areas which should be included within the remit of the LCI which were required to be taken into account by the relevant city councils when putting forward the proposed SRAs for each city. In particular, it was stated that these should be inner city areas which are largely comprised of dwellings built before 1915, where there is above average unemployment and which demonstrate clear evidence of neglect, dereliction and under-use. It was specified that areas which are generally regarded as affluent, have high occupancy rates and which do not require regeneration should not be included in the SRAs.

The LCI was reviewed as part of the Tax Strategy Group process in 2022. The review noted that the scheme is a very specific tax incentive, established in compliance with the Department of Finance’s Tax expenditure Guidelines, with the aim of encouraging businesses and home-owners back to the centre of Irish cities in order to preserve historic buildings in the special regeneration areas.

As the Deputy will be appreciate, it is a longstanding practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment in advance of the Budget on any tax matters which might be the subject of Budget decisions.

Decisions regarding taxation measures are made in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill processes, at the appropriate time, and having regard to the sound management of the public finances.

As the LCI is a demand-led scheme which is subject to a broad range of variables, it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the annual cost of extending the initiative to Dundalk and Drogheda.