Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
700. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the date on which the works on the second bridge linking Celbridge to Hazelhatch, County Kildare, will commence; the status of the design detail of the bridge; and if he engaged the National Transport Authority on the granting of funding. [15266/21]
View answerThe Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was launched in 2018 to support more compact and sustainable development. The URDF is one of four funds established under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has responsibility for its implementation.
The Fund is providing part-funding for applicant led projects that will enable a greater proportion of residential and mixed-use development to be delivered within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and large towns, while also ensuring that more parts of our urban areas can become attractive and vibrant places in which people choose to live and work, as well as to invest and to visit.
The URDF, as a key activator of the National Planning Framework (NPF) and Project Ireland 2040, is supporting a programme of significant transformational capital projects that will contribute to the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the NPF and PI2040.
All applications for URDF support are assessed in terms of their alignment with the intended purpose of the URDF programme and also their viability before being considered for approval.
With regard to the approved proposal in question, Kildare County Council’s proposal for the Celbridge to Hazelhatch Link Road, the recently announced provisional allocation of €10,237,500 for this project under Call 2 of the URDF is to support substantive capital works subsequent to a related planning and design project that was allocated support of €400,000 under Call 1. This means that to date a total of €10,637,500 in URDF funding has been provisionally allocated to this project.
In the coming weeks, my Department will issue a formal approval in principle letter in respect of this successful proposal to Kildare County Council, which will set out the arrangements and conditions attached to URDF support.
While my Department works closely with the successful applicants in respect of project funding, responsibility for the advancement of URDF supported projects through the various stages of planning, development and completion is, in the first instance, a matter for the Sponsoring Agency, in this case Kildare County Council.
In this regard, it should be noted that all URDF supported projects must be carefully developed and managed by the Sponsoring Agency in accordance with the normal conditions and arrangements that apply to public sector managed projects including, exercising appropriate cost control and delivering projects as approved, and in full compliance with the Public Spending Code.
