Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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108. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the supports available for local authorities in developing 'Town Centre First Plans'; how these plans will be funded; the number that have been progressed; and how success is measured in implementation of these plans. [14508/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Launched in 2022, the Town Centre First (TCF) Policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. TCF supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland 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.

Significant progress has been made since the launch of the policy towards achieving its objectives. Important developments include the establishment of a dedicated National TCF Office within the Local Government Management Agency which drives the actions under the policy, the establishment of Town Teams nationally, and the appointment of 26 full time local authority Town Regeneration Officers (funded by my Department) who act as the central drivers of TCF at a local level.

In December 2021, funding of €2.6 million was announced to support the development of

TCF Town Plans nationally in 26 pilot towns. These community-based plans are produced by individual Town Teams, drawn from local community and business representatives, and are helping communities develop a vision for their town and identify viable projects to realise that vision. This first phase of TCF plans are complete, have moved onto the project delivery phase and can be accessed on the Town Centre First website.

In February 2024, a new dedicated TCF suite of supports was launched with €4.5 million allocated through three funding streams. This includes an allocation of €30,000 each for the development of a further 26 TCF plans for a new suite of towns.

The funding also includes an allocation towards the establishment of a further 68 Town Teams nationwide and an funding to allow towns prepare for major projects via the ‘Project Development Measure’. Further details of the towns and projects awarded funding under these measures can be found on Gov.ie at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/473d3-town-centre-first-policy/.

As can be seen from the 33 actions contained within the TCF policy, rather than being a funded programme in and of itself, the significance of TCF is that it provides an integrated policy approach for the development of Irish towns. Importantly, the TCF approach is also underpinned by a range of capital funding streams across Government which have been aligned with the policy aims of TCF. These include, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the THRIVE scheme to revitalise our heritage buildings and the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.

The experience of recent calls for applications under these funds has shown that the TCF approach is having an impact, and this has resulted in high quality applications being submitted.

The Town Centre First policy was developed in conjunction with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Falling within the parameters of this policy, I would refer to the publication ‘Bringing Back Homes’ which details over 20 incentives, funded measures and grants to support a reversal of housing vacancy and dereliction. Some of the main supports available include the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant under the Croí Conaithe initiative, the Repair and Leasing Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme, and the Living City Initiative.

The new Programme for Government commits to resourcing the Town Centre First model and to establish a Town Regeneration Team in every local authority. My Department will continue to work closely with colleagues in the National TCF Office, local authorities and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages.