Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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69. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for a progress update on the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59494/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Project Ireland 2040 and the National Development Plan highlight the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) and Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) as being key measures in achieving Ireland’s the long term strategic priorities and these schemes are designed to operate in a parallel and complimentary fashion.

The URDF is administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and established to support more compact and sustainable development, through the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns with populations of over 10,000.

Administered by my department, RRDF is a major capital investment scheme. It seeks to support large-scale, ambitious projects which can achieve sustainable economic and social development in rural areas in line with the Town Centre First Policy. The focus of the RRDF is on rural towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000 people. To date, the RRDF has allocated over €613 million for 273 projects across Ireland.

Calls for applications to the RRDF are sought under two categories. Category 1 relates to large scale capital works projects with all necessary planning and consents in place and are ready to proceed. Category 2, which typically provides funding of up to €1m per project, relates to projects which may planning permissions and statutory consents and further development to become ready for Category 1 status.

I was delighted to recently announce successful projects under the Fourth Call for Category 2 applications, with funding of over €20.5 million being allocated to 30 landmark regeneration projects in rural communities across the country. I can also confirm it is my intention to launch a Call for Proposals for larger scale Category 1 RRDF projects in the near future.

I am committed to ensuring that the RRDF can continue to support high quality and transformational projects across rural Ireland in line with the objectives of Our Rural Future and the Town Centre First policy.