The 2020 Town and Village Renewal Scheme was tailored to focus on interventions that can assist our rural towns and villages to respond to the challenges presented by COVID-19. The scheme includes an Accelerated Measure which will enable towns and villages to introduce initiatives immediately to support increased footfall and encourage people to shop and socialise safely in accordance with public health guidelines. Approvals under the Measure will be made under three funding rounds.
Successful projects under Round 1 and Round 2 of the Accelerated Measure have recently been announced, with a total of €6.1 million being approved for 226 projects. Not all applications submitted met the minimum scoring criteria for funding and my officials would be happy to provide feedback to the relevant Local Authority should it be required.
Applications under Round 3 of the Accelerated Measure are currently being assessed, as are applications from Large Towns who were permitted to apply as an exceptional measure this year.
Details of the applications received under the Accelerated Measure for Co Laois and Co Offaly are provided on the Tables 1 and 2 below:
Table 1: T&V Accelerated Measures Applications received for Co Laois.
County
|
Applications Received
|
Applications Refused
|
Applications Approved
|
Co Laois Round 1
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
Co Laois Round 2
|
6
|
1
|
5
|
Total
|
11
|
2
|
9
|
Table 2: T&V Accelerated Measures Applications received for Co Offaly
County
|
Applications Received
|
Applications Refused
|
Applications Approved
|
Co Offaly Round 1
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
Co Offaly Round 2
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
Total
|
11
|
2
|
9
|