Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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441. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to expand the living cities initiative scheme to other large towns with historic centres, such as Ennis in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57810/25]

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 address, I announced a number of enhancements to the LCI to strengthen the scheme to be included in Finance Bill 2025. The Bill was published on 16 October last.

I also announced that the LCI would be extended to the regional centres of Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo.

The reason for the extension of the scheme to these places is that they are the five regional centres set out in the National Planning Framework. In particular, National Policy Objective 15 of the Framework provides for the application of:

"a tailored approach to urban development..."(s)trengthening Ireland’s overall urban structure, particularly in the Northern and Western and Midland Regions, to include the regional centres of Sligo and Letterkenny in the North-West, Athlone in the Midlands and cross-border networks focused on the Letterkenny-Derry North-West City Region and Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry on the Dublin-Belfast corridor...."

I have no plans at present to the extend the initiative to other towns.