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Urban Regeneration and Development Fund

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Questions (721)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

721. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the criteria for the recent URDF; the reason an application (details supplied) failed to meet this criteria; the person or body that adjudicated on the applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18977/21]

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Written answers

The primary focus of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is on supporting projects that will contribute to compact growth and that will improve the liveability of our cities and towns. All applications for URDF support are assessed in terms of their alignment with the intended purpose of the URDF and also their viability before being considered for approval.

The second call for proposals was launched in January 2020 and a copy of the circular setting out the objectives of the Fund and application conditions together with the application form and assessment criteria have been available on my Departments website since then at the below link:

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bcc0ae-eligibility-for-the-urban-regeneration-and-development-fund/

To assist local authorities with the application process, my Department also hosted a number of workshops to provide information on the purpose of the URDF programme and the types of proposals that would be considered for support. In all 76 proposals were received, with every local authority submitting at least one application, and involving competing demands with a total combined value exceeding €2 billion. All applications were assessed in terms of their alignment with the intended purpose of the URDF programme and also their viability before being considered for approval.

Dublin City Council submitted four applications under Call 2 of the URDF, of which two were successful. €174,300,554 has been provisionally approved for Dublin City Council’s successful Call 2 projects - North Inner City Concept Area 1 (€121,285,388) and South Inner City Concept Area 1 (€53,015,166). This is in addition to €15,781,960 already approved for 8 projects under Call 1 bringing total URDF support for projects in the Dublin City area to €190,082,514 over both URDF calls.

Ultimately, Dublin City Council’s application in respect of proposals related to the implementation of the Park-West Cherry Orchard Local Area Plan 2019 was deemed unsuccessful following the comprehensive assessment process, which involved four distinct parts:

- An initial assessment of all proposals carried out by my Department was provided to a Project Advisory Board (PAB) comprised of civil servants, specialists in the various relevant sectoral areas and representatives from other interested Government Departments/Agencies.

- The PAB considered each proposal in terms of the set URDF assessment criteria and made recommendations on suitability for consideration for URDF support.

- The PAB recommendations were reviewed by a sub-group of the Department's Management Board.

- Final recommendations were submitted for my consideration.

A copy of the detailed assessment of this proposal will soon be provided to the applicant, Dublin City Council, following which my officials will be available to provide any further feedback and information required by City Council officials on the assessment.

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