James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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2182. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his Department's plans to publish the review of the pilot scheme for the town centre first scheme which included towns in Cork County; the timeframe for this review to be completed if not already published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58849/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Launched in 2022, the Town Centre First(TCF) Policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. The policy supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland which is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing and development.

In December 2021, funding of €2.6 million was announced to support the development of TCF Town Plans nationally in 26 pilot towns. These community-based plans are produced by individual Town Teams, drawn from local community and business representatives, and are helping communities develop a vision for their town and identify viable projects to realise that vision. This first phase of TCF plans have now moved on to project delivery phase and completed plans can be accessed on the Town Centre First website at this address: towncentrefirst.ie/

In February 2024, a new dedicated TCF suite of supports was launched with €4.5 million allocated through three funding streams. This includes an allocation of €30,000 each for the development of a further 26 TCF plans for a new suite of towns. These projects are ongoing and are nearing completion. Further details of the towns and projects awarded funding under these measures can be found at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/473d3-town-centre-first-policy/

Town Regeneration Officers, who are based in local authorities and funded by my Department, support the establishment and ongoing work of Town Teams. They also provide support to communities for the preparation of Town Centre First Plans, providing information and assistance in the drawdown of various funding streams to support TCF plan implementation on the ground.

As can be seen from the 33 actions contained within the policy, the significance of TCF is that it provides an integrated policy approach for the development of Irish towns rather than being a single dedicated funding line in and of itself. Instead, the TCF approach is underpinned by a range of capital funding streams across Government. These include, for example, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund and the THRIVE scheme.

A ‘National Town Centre First Office’ has been established and operates under the auspices of the Local Government Management Agency to assist local authorities in the policy delivery and implementation of TCF actions. This office produces annual implementation plans and progress reports. It is also responsible for stakeholder engagement and co-ordination at a national level. Details of the various reports and resources made available by the National Office are available on its Town Centre First website.

The National Office has confirmed that it undertook an informal review of the methodologies used to develop Phase 1 Town Centre First plans was undertaken. This initial review identified good practice, gaps or omissions in the completion of the Phase 1 Town Centre First plans. To date, a considerable number of projects prioritised in Phase 1 Town Centre First plans have been successful in securing capital funding through the various available Departmental schemes. With this in mind, and after a sufficient timeframe has passed to allow delivery on Town Centre First Plans, the National Office has confirmed an intention to undertake a further review Phase 1 Town Centre First plans to include details of progress made by each town subsequent to the development of their plan.

Government remains committed to the success of the Town Centre First policy and will continue to work closely with local authorities to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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2183. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if it is proposed to review the CLÁR areas with a view to extending to new areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58889/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's CLÁR programme provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas.

The Programme for Government makes a commitment to carry out a comprehensive review of the eligible CLÁR areas. The statistical analysis for this review has now been completed and I am currently considering the content of the resulting report. It is intended that any changes to be introduced as a result of the review will be implemented before the next iteration of the scheme is launched next year.