Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 December 2021
251. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of towns and villages which have been supported under the town and village renewal scheme and whether she has conducted a review of the effectiveness of this scheme. [59576/21]
View answerThe Town and Village Renewal Scheme provides funding to support the revitalisation of our rural towns and villages and make them more attractive places to live, work, socialise and raise a family.
Since the launch of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme in 2016, over €93 million of funding has been approved for more than 1,340 projects in over 800 towns and villages across Ireland. This year's Scheme places particular emphasis on projects supporting remote working and enhancing town centre living. The maximum grant available has increased to €500,000 to permit projects of additional scale to be funded. I will be announcing details of successful applicants under this year's scheme in the coming weeks.
A Focused Policy Assessment of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme has recently been undertaken by staff of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service located in my Department and was published last month. The assessment included a number of recommendations which are being considered by my officials. A copy of the Focused Policy Assessment can be found on the Gov.ie website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/a0a03-programme-evaluation/
