James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 702, 703, 704 and 705 together.

In 2021, following the second call for proposals under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), a provisional allocation of €11,027,500 in URDF support was announced for Mayo County Council's two successful proposals – the Castlebar Historic Core Reactivation Initiative (€8,527,500) and works to Castlebar Military Barracks (€2,500,000).

This followed Mayo County Council's successful application for €141,391 in URDF support towards technical assistance for the advancement of the Castlebar Military Barracks proposal under the URDF's first call for proposals in 2018.

It is a condition of URDF support that advancement of proposals/projects and related funding arrangements must accord with the Department’s Guidance on applying the Infrastructure Guidelines (formerly the Public Spending Code) to URDF-supported projects. This requires each local authority to ensure that at each of three Approval Gates it provides a submission to my Department for approval prior to progressing to the next stage of the project lifecycle. These Approval Gates are:

• AG1 - Approval in Principle (Preliminary Business Case).
• AG2 - Pre Tender Approval (Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy).
• AG3 - Post Tender Approval (Final Business Case).

This will ensure continued independent, effective and efficient operation by sponsoring agencies of the URDF programme, while also protecting Exchequer investment.

In relation to the URDF-supported projects in Castlebar, Mayo County Council’s successful Castlebar Historic Core Reactivation Initiative proposal is made up of six individual projects, the current status of which are outlined in the following table:

Project Title	Description of Works	Project Type	Status
The Mall Innovation Hub (The Imperial Hotel/Daly's Hotel)	Repurpose the former Daly’s (Imperial) Hotel as an Innovation Hub.	Capital Works	AG1 – Approval in Principle issued. Design team to be appointed September 2025
Public Realm Works	Public Realm Works in the Mall to refurbish and rejuvenate its setting	Capital Works	AG1 – Approval in Principle issued. Design team to be appointed September 2025
Youth Resource Centre (The Old Post Office)	Repurpose the former Castlebar Post Office as a Community Youth Resource Centre	Capital Works	Commenced / Onsite. Construction commenced Nov 2024
Strategic Acquisition of properties	Purchase of 4 vacant properties at the corner of Rock Square.	Strategic Acquisition(s)	Withdrawn. Being progressed under the Council’s Call 3 Programme of Acquisitions.
Master Plan for Ellison Street and Back Lands	Masterplan and strategic site assembly at key locations in Castlebar	Technical Assistance and Strategic Acquisition(s)	AG1 – Approval in Principle issued. Design team appointed October 2024
Ellison Street Infrastructure	New Links and Access routes with possible compulsory purchase	Capital Works and Strategic Acquisition(s)	AG1 – Approval in Principle issued. Design team appointed October 2024

Having received approval at AG3 (Final Business Case) stage, the Youth Resource Centre (Old Post Office) project is the most advanced project within this proposal. Involving the repurposing of the former Castlebar Post Office to a Community Youth Resource Centre, the project is on-site and expected to be completed in Q2 2026. Approval was also granted to redistribute the €390,000 in URDF support that was previously allocated for the acquisition of properties at Rock Square (a project now being progressed under Call 3) towards the increased costs of this project.

The remaining projects are being progressed in parallel and are currently expected to be completed before 2028 subject, inter alia, to the timely receipt of the relevant submissions and satisfactory completion of all the remaining Approval Gates.

Regarding the successful Castlebar Military Barracks proposal, this contains the following two individual projects, the status of which are outlined in the following table:

Project Title	Description of Works	Project Type	Status
Detailed Design and Planning for the Barracks Site	Production of a Final Scheme Design, including Archaeological works, the Protection of Wildlife and Part 8 Planning for the detailed scheme.	Technical Assistance	AG1 – Approval in Principle issued
Essential Enabling works to existing buildings	Works to reverse emergent dereliction in the existing buildings and to integrate the site with the historic core reactivation initiative.	Capital Works	AG1 – Approval in Principle issued

The funding for the Military Barracks was aimed at developing a masterplan and carrying out some enabling works to support the development of a strategic partnership to help develop the site in the future. While the Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB) is progressing a proposal to develop a large portion of the site as a “Campus of the Future”, the buildings not associated with MSLETB's development will remain with Mayo County Council and be the focus of the master plan and URDF funding.

Having received preliminary business case approval (AG1), Mayo County Council has recently tendered for an Architect-Led Integrated Design Team of Consultants to deliver a detailed design and secure planning consent for the Barracks site. The tender process for this appointment is expected to conclude in the coming weeks.

In relation to the enabling works element of the proposal, the estimated costs associated with these works are currently less than €20m. Therefore, and subject to the costs and scope of works remaining as approved in their AG1 submission, the Council is also approved to proceed with finalising the detailed design and procurement process for the Enabling Works element of the proposal. The outcome of this element must also be submitted to my Department as part of that project's AG3 submission.

Subject to satisfactory completion of these steps, these projects may be in a position to be completed by Q2 2027.

Finally, while my Department works closely and communicates regularly with Mayo County Council in respect of project funding, responsibility for the advancement of these URDF-supported projects through the various stages of the project lifecycle is, in the first instance, a matter for the Sponsoring Agency (in this case Mayo County Council). Any further queries regarding timelines for these projects can be directed to the Council.