Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 March 2023
154. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update regarding a project (details supplied) in County Mayo; the stage this project is at; if the works have been put out to tender; if funding has been drawn down for this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15849/23]
View answer155. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when works will commence on a project (details supplied) in County Mayo; when the works will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15851/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 154 and 155 together.
In line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is currently providing part-funding to applicant-led projects, enabling more compact and sustainable development within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and large towns.
To this end, the URDF has already provisionally allocated in excess of €1.6 billion under two separate calls for proposals since its inception in 2018. Providing assistance to 132 proposals, comprising of almost 400 subprojects, URDF projects are now active in every local authority area in the country.
In 2021, following the second call for proposals under the URDF, I announced a provisional allocation of €11,027,500 in URDF support for Mayo County Council's two successful projects - Castlebar Historic Core Reactivation Initiative Project (€8,527,500) and Castlebar Military Barracks Project (€2,500,000).
This followed Mayo County Council's successful application for €141,391 in URDF support towards technical assistance for the advancement of the Castlebar Military Barracks project under the URDF's first call for proposals in 2018.
A preliminary Business Case for each of the Call 2 projects was approved by my Department in 2022. This represents Decision Gate 1 in the project lifecycle of the Public Spending Code and gives approval to Mayo County Council to proceed to the development of a Detailed Project Brief and Procurement Strategy for submission to the department as part of the approval process for the next decision gate (Decision Gate 2 – Pre Tender Approval). This submission is awaited.
Subject to adherence with the URDF Funding Principles and DPER Circular 13/2014, all appropriate and reasonable expenditure incurred in progressing the two projects to Decision Gate 2 (Design fees etc.) is eligible for recoupment from the Department. To date no funding has been drawn down for either of these projects by Mayo County Council.
While my Department works closely and communicates regularly with Mayo County Council in respect of project funding, responsibility for the advancement of these URDF supported projects through the various stages of planning, development and completion is, in the first instance, a matter for the Sponsoring Agency, Mayo County Council. Any queries regarding the timeline of the projects should be directed to the Council.
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.
