Skip to main content
Normal View

Urban Renewal Schemes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 April 2014

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Questions (369)

James Bannon

Question:

369. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for supporting the regeneration of towns such as County Longford and other midlands towns hit by recession where a large percentage of businesses are closed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15195/14]

View answer

Written answers

The downturn in economic activity associated with the recession has resulted in significant numbers of shop closures and vacant units in town centres. Other factors, such as upward only rent reviews, parking charges, rising energy costs and on-line trading have also undermined the viability of small and medium-sized businesses in the retail sector, threatening the fabric of our urban centres.

To help address this issue, a number of initiatives have been taken by my Department in recent years, as follows:

- local authorities were requested to exercise restraint, or where possible, to reduce commercial rates and local charges to assist local businesses in the current economic climate – the vast majority of local authorities have responded positively to this request,

- revised development contribution guidelines were introduced last year requesting planning authorities to put in place reduced development contributions to support town centre development and incentivise activity in the areas prioritised for development in the relevant core strategy,

- the publication of new guidelines on retail planning last year aimed at promoting and supporting the vitality and viability of city and town centres. These guidelines retained the previous caps on store size in less populated and smaller towns, and were aimed at striking the right balance to ensure that local monopolies are not created in smaller towns which would be detrimental to competition.

In terms of Government action other than by my Department in providing assistance to retail businesses and stimulating economic activity in local communities, a number of measures have been introduced since 2011, including -

- the introduction of the 9% rate of VAT on certain goods and services,

- the halving of the lower rate of employers' PRSI,

- the introduction of the Micro-enterprise Loan Scheme and Credit Guarantee Scheme, both of which schemes have had take-up from the retail sector, and

- the extension of seed capital and the employment and investment incentive scheme to the retail sector.

My Department remains committed to working with other Government Departments, with local government and with other community development and enterprise stakeholders with a view to providing a clear framework for addressing urban centre decline and its impacts on the retail sector, and will continue to explore all options for further action in this regard.

Top
Share