Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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99. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide an update on the implementation of the town and village renewal scheme; the way in which the impact of this scheme is being measured in terms of community wellbeing and economic activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54981/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) was introduced in 2016 and has to date allocated almost €184 million to over 1,800 projects nationally. It is one of a number of measures designed to rejuvenate rural towns and villages throughout Ireland. The scheme, which sees local authorities work with communities throughout the country, primarily targets funding at rural towns and villages with populations of less than 10,000 people.

My Department continually engages with local authorities to ensure the Town and Village Renewal Scheme is having the intended impact in communities. This has included engagement with requesting input from local authorities and Town Regeneration Officers on what worked well in previous iterations of TVRS and also how the scheme might be improved.

TVRS priorities are reviewed and updated at the end of each scheme year and in advance of each call for proposals. This also ensures that funding is targeted effectively and can respond to changing needs and opportunities. For example, the 2025 scheme, launched in March, placed a renewed focus on town centre economic activity and sustainable job creation.

All applications are assessed as part of a competitive process From the outset, each call for proposals includes detailed scheme criteria and themes and then outlines the evaluation process that will be used in the assessment applications. This helps inform local authorities frame their applications ensure they achieve the policy objective of the call. Funding under the scheme is awarded based on suitability against the published scheme criteria and objectives, the quality of the proposed project, the readiness of the project to commence and the level of funding available to the Department.

Finally, as part of the funding drawdown processes the local authority must submit a report to the Department following completion of every project. This requires that local authorities reflect on the project outcomes and impact delivery.