I wish to share my time with Deputy Stanton.
Adjournment Debate. - Urban Renewal Schemes.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I congratulate the Minister of State on introducing this scheme. Over the past decade, the success of various urban renewal and seaside resort schemes in our larger towns has been evident. Obviously, there is a gap in the market for smaller towns. I was greatly interested in the Minister of State's proposals over the past 12 months for townscape schemes, which have been expanded in a similar way to urban renewal schemes.
I look forward to their introduction throughout the country because they will work wonders for smaller towns. They will generate economic activity and create more jobs, but, most importantly, will preserve the finest aspects of many medium and small sized towns. I wish the Minister of State well in bringing the scheme to fruition. I was happy that the closing date for the scheme was put back to 31 December. The earlier deadline was causing difficulty at local authority level. It was wise and fitting to extend it because it gives all of us who are involved in local authorities extra time to get our houses in order.
My query relates to the number of towns in County Cork which are eligible for submission under the scheme. I tabled a parliamentary question on the matter last week and in his reply the Minister of State indicated that a formula was used to determine the number of towns which would be eligible in each county. According to that formula, most counties can submit up to 50 per cent of its eligible towns, but, unfortunately, County Cork can only submit approximately 33 per cent of its eligible towns. It is the only county with more than 20 eligible towns and I ask the Minister of State to consider allowing at least ten or possibly 12 towns to be included. The 33 per cent limit, as it applies to County Cork, is not good enough. Just because we have had recent success in the sporting field does not mean we will leave it at that.
Many of the county's towns would benefit tremendously from inclusion under this scheme. Seven towns is not enough for the largest county in Ireland. As 25 towns are eligible, it would be only fair and proper that ten to 12 towns be included by the Department. I do not ask the Minister of State to change the scheme or the formula used in it. I ask him to recognise that since Cork is the only county with more than 20 eligible towns, it should be allowed to submit more than seven towns for consideration as prescribed in his earlier document. He has shown flexibility with the deadline date and I ask him for extra flexibility for Cork.
I thank Deputy Bradford for allowing me to share time with him and I reiterate what he said. If County Cork were split in two, at least ten towns would be eligible for inclusion in the scheme and 15 towns would be disappointed. The scheme is worthwhile and I congratulate the Minister of State on introducing it. It will put the heart and soul back into small towns and improve their ambience and appearance. While I would like to see more towns included, I ask the Minister of State to look favourably on County Cork. Perhaps he will look at this issue again and not give us a definite "no" tonight. We would be happy if he agreed to re-examine the case for County Cork with a view to increasing the number of eligible towns to ten or 12.
I wish to outline the background to the issue raised by Deputy Bradford. Last July I published detailed guidelines for the new town renewal scheme circulated to local authorities. These guidelines, which were intended to assist county councils in preparing town renewal plans, TRPs, for the purposes of the new scheme, identify more than 200 towns with a population of between 500 and 6,000. These are the population limits governing eligibility to participate in the new scheme.
The guidelines contain a formula which determines a number of towns which can be considered for designation during the first phase of the new scheme. Counties with fewer than six eligible towns can submit TRPs for a maximum of three, those with between six and ten can submit TRPs for four towns, those with between 11 and 20 can submit TRPs for five and those with more than 20 towns can submit TRPs for seven towns.
County councils have been asked to submit plans to my Department on this basis. Cork is the only county with more than 20 eligible towns and, consequently, under the formula used in the guidelines, is the only county with an entitlement to submit seven plans. I am aware of the controversy which this proposal has created in County Cork.
Deputy Bradford and other public representatives have been arguing that Cork should have been given a higher allocation having regard to the limits set for other counties. However, in determining the number of towns per county for which plans were to be prepared, every effort was made to strike a balance between keeping the TRP process manageable while at the same time allowing councils to submit a reasonable number of plans for the first phase of the scheme.
I would stress that it is a phased scheme. Many of the towns in County Cork not selected initially will be able to avail of the scheme in later phases. It will be the most widely spread urban renewal scheme ever introduced in this country, with in excess of 100 towns benefiting initially. It is also the first time that the Irish small town will have a chance to benefit from the tax incentive based approach which has transformed so many of the core areas of our larger urban areas.
The drawing up of these plans places an onerous task on county councils and the councils will also have the job of promoting and implementing tax incentive schemes in the towns selected. This will be a sizeable undertaking for the councils. It would be undesirable to spread tax incentives too widely in the initial phase. Experience has shown that such schemes work most effectively when they are carefully targeted and when considerable effort is invested by the implementing agency which, in this case, is the county council. In the circumstances, I do not propose to alter the guidelines for the scheme.
My main priority now is to get this much needed scheme up and running rather than get involved in a numbers game. We should now focus all our energies on getting this initial phase off to a successful start. We can review the situation following the receipt of plans by 31 December this year.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.12 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 6 October 1999.