Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps he has taken to tackle dereliction in rural towns and villages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21735/26]

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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69. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to provide an update on the progress of the Town Centre First initiative in Galway east; his plans to support regeneration in towns and villages across County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21736/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 69 together.

Launched in 2022, the Town Centre First (TCF) Policy is a major cross-government policy, which aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It does this by setting out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant, viable places to live, work, invest in, and visit.

TCF complements other national policies including Our Rural Future, the new national housing strategy ‘Delivering Homes, Building Communities', as well as the National Planning Framework, which also aim to tackle vacancy and dereliction, achieve balanced regional development and support local communities.

Significant progress has been made since the launch of the TCF policy towards achieving its objectives. Town Regeneration Officers (TROs), based in 26 local authorities including in Galway County Council, are funded by my Department and provide support for the establishment and work of Town Teams. They also act as a key conduit between the local authority, towns and villages and their communities. This includes new Capital Delivery Teams, who are also funded by my Department, Vacant Homes Officers, Broadband Officers and Night-Time Economy Officers. More broadly, they work closely across multi-disciplinary technical teams in local authorities who are collectively charged with responsibility of town regeneration including combatting vacancy and dereliction.

Dedicated funding of over €7 million has also been provided for a range of TCF related supports. Included in this package of funding was support the development of 52 TCF Town Plans nationally, including in Gort and Athenry. The funding also helped establish Town Teams nationwide, including in Headford, An Cheathrú Rua, and Oranmore in Galway. These initiatives aim to support local communities in identifying and addressing the key issues in their own towns and communities.

Importantly, a range of capital funding streams is available to support delivery on Town Centre First objectives. For example, to date, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund has allocated €614 million for 273 projects across Ireland, including over €32 million to 20 projects located across County Galway. Projects supported by the RRDF have had a strong focus on regeneration and will deliver vibrant and liveable town centres and ensure that rural towns, villages and communities can prosper over the months and years ahead.

Similarly, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) places particular emphasis on projects that will bring derelict and vacant buildings and sites back into use as multi-purpose community spaces. Since its launch, TVRS has allocated over €210 million to over 1,900 projects nationally, with over €8.5 million in funding allocated to 81 projects in County Galway. Details of all projects funded by the Department are available on my department's website.

Town Centre First is also supported by other funding measures available across Government. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who holds joint responsibility for the policy, also implements a suite of schemes including the new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund which builds on the success of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant under the Croí Cónaithe initiative, and THRIVE - the TCF Heritage Renewal Scheme.

My Department will continue to work closely with colleagues in local authorities and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages and addressing the issues of dereliction and vacancy.