Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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742. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the next round of funding under the rural regeneration and development fund will be allocated; and the current status of the application process. [4648/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) provides funding for the development and construction of large scale capital projects in towns, villages and rural areas across Ireland. Funding is allocated to local authorities and other State-funded bodies, who take the lead role in individual projects.

Calls for applications to the RRDF are sought under two categories, Category 1 and Category 2. Category 1 relates to larger scale ambitious capital projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place and which are ready to proceed. Category 2 provides smaller grant funding to enable the development of project proposals suitable for future calls for Category 1 applications.

The Fourth Call for Category 2 applications was launched in October 2024, with a focus on revitalising our rural towns and villages through planned and sustainable regeneration that will drive greater economic activity and support the creation of employment, help revitalise our towns and villages, drive footfall and address vacancy and dereliction. The closing date for applications is the 14 March 2025. An application form and associated guidance documentation is available on my Department’s website.

I am committed to ensuring that the RRDF can continue to support high quality and transformational projects across rural Ireland in line with the objectives of Our Rural Future.

Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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743. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development whether the urban regeneration and development fund could be replicated for rural towns and villages in order to support sustainable and regenerative development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4726/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and established to support more compact and sustainable development, through the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns.

Administered by my Department, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) is a major programme which seeks to support large-scale, ambitious projects which can achieve sustainable economic and social development in rural areas. The focus of the RRDF is on rural towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000 people. To date, the RRDF has allocated €588 million for 243 projects across Ireland.

Project Ireland 2040 and the National Development Plan highlight the RRDF and URDF as being key measures in achieving Ireland’s the wider strategic priorities and these schemes are designed to operate in a parallel and complimentary fashion.

Calls for applications to the RRDF are sought under two categories. Category 1 relates to projects with all necessary planning and consents in place and are ready to proceed, while Category 2 relates to projects which require further development to become ready for Category 1 status.

A Fourth Call for Category 2 applications in currently open. It has a focus on revitalising our rural towns and villages through planned and sustainable regeneration. This is to drive greater economic activity and support the creation of employment, help revitalise our towns and villages, drive footfall and address vacancy and dereliction. The closing date for applications is the 14 March 2025.

The RRDF is also a key funding stream supporting the Town Centre First (TCF) Policy. This is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It does this by setting out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant, viable places to live, work, invest in, and visit. In addition to the RRDF, the policy is underpinned by a very wide range of capital funding, for example, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the THRIVE scheme to revitalise our heritage buildings.

The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS), which is also administered by my Department, is designed to rejuvenate rural towns and villages throughout Ireland. Since the launch of the scheme over €177 million has been allocated to almost 1,800 projects.

The Government remains fully committed to the success of the Town Centre First policy and will continue to work closely across Government Departments to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages.