Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

700. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment for the cost of implementing a night tzar to each county local authority to look after the interests of those involved in the night-time economy. [29035/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In 2022, in support of Action 19 in the Report of the Night-Time Economy Taskforce, my Department, in partnership with the County and City Management Association invited all local authorities to take part in a 2-year Night-Time Economy pilot initiative. The aim is to stimulate night-time activity supported at a local level by the appointment of a Night-Time Economy Advisor.

An independent panel selected nine locations across the country to take part in the pilot: Dublin City, Cork City, Limerick City, Galway City, Kilkenny, Drogheda, Sligo, Buncrana and Longford Town.

My Department has provided funding for a two-year full-time Night-Time Advisor at Local Authority Grade VII scale in each of the selected locations and in recent weeks, I confirmed funding for these posts until September 2026.

I have provided a total allocation of €1.358 million for 2025, to support the nine pilots. This funding covers the salary costs and includes a seed fund package of €575k which is divided amongst the pilots, to help with the roll-out of their action plans to develop the Night-Time Economy in their local areas.

This year, following a tendering process, we appointed Communiqué International to undertake an independent review of the Night-Time Economy pilots to advise on possible options for the future of the initiative. The review will also look critically at the structures involved in supporting the Advisors, the funding levels, the visibility of each in their respective areas and their impact on the Night-Time Economy in their locality.

At present, I am unable to quantify what the overall cost would be of implementing a Night-Time Advisor to each county local authority, as the current pilot scheme was designed to assess how to develop the Night-Time Economy in towns and cities of various sizes and not at a county level.

I am expecting the Report from the review in the coming weeks and I look forward to the findings of that review which will make recommendations in relation to the future of the pilots.