Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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369. To ask the Minister for Finance the rationale for excluding Clonmel from the recent expansion of the Living City Initiative; the criteria used to select Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo for inclusion; if he will acknowledge the regeneration needs of Clonmel as a town of comparable size and historic character; and if he will commit to reviewing this decision with a view to including Clonmel in the scheme. [55458/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Living City Initiative (LCI) is a 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 currently 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) of the cities of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

In my recent Budget speech, I announced a number of enhancements to the LCI to strengthen the scheme. I also announced that the LCI will be extended to the towns of Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo. The rationale for the extension of the scheme to these areas is because they have been identified as the five regional centres in the National Planning Framework.