Vol. 524 No. 6
247 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if the expert advisory panel for the urban renewal designation scheme actually visited Bellaghy and Charlestown; and if so, the dates of their visits. [23534/00]
Under the Town Renewal Act, 2000, it is a matter for the relevant county councils to propose sites for designation for tax incentives within the area covered by a town renewal plan. In doing so they are assisted by the detailed guidelines issued to them; these set out the purposes and aims of the schemes, the criteria to be used in selecting towns for which plans are to be prepared, and advice on the approach to be followed in preparing their plans, including selecting sites for designation. County councils were advised that the extent of designation must necessarily be limited and well targeted and that only sites that clearly fulfilled the objectives of the plans should be designated. The award of incentives can only be justified where it can be shown that they will assist in overcoming identifiable barriers to development.
The role of the expert panel set up by me was to assess the council's proposals and recommend sites for designation on the basis of the plans submitted by county councils. In a number of cases additional information was requested from the relevant county council to facilitate examination of the proposals. The panel was confined to examining the sites recommended by county councils by reference to the criteria contained in the guidelines; this process did not involve the panel carrying out inspections. Therefore the panel did not visit Bellaghy-Charlestown.
