Departmental Programmes

Thursday, 4 May 2023

Questions (183)

Cathal Crowe

Question:

183. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the schemes and initiatives his Department has introduced to benefit rural Ireland since 2020. [21004/23]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Darragh O'Brien)

The schemes and initiatives introduced by my Department to benefit rural Ireland, since 2020 are set out in the attached table.

Scheme, Initiative, Grant etc.	Launch Date	Completion Date (or ongoing)	Description
European LIFE Programme Participatory Schemes	Ongoing	Ongoing	Participatory schemes to assist the European LIFE programme projects by linking payments to farmers to the environmental quality of a farm, with higher nature quality resulting in a higher payment level.; providing training to farmers to promote good practice and Habitat Management Agreements which focus on the delivery of specific works by landowners which support the aims of the European LIFE projects
Community Monuments Fund	2020	Ongoing	Annual grant scheme established in 2020 to provide support for local archaeological heritage, supporting community heritage groups, local authorities and custodians in the care of archaeological monuments. Including 2023 awards announced last month (April), 476 projects have benefitted from the fund to the tune of €19.2m with many of these in rural areas.
Domestic Waste Water Treatment System Grants	June 2020	Ongoing	Improved and expanded Domestic Waste Water Treatment System grant launched in June 2020. Financial assistance is provided to householders to replace, carry out remediation work, repair, or to upgrade their domestic waste water treatment systems.
Grant for the improvement of a private water supply to a house	June 2020	Ongoing	Financial assistance provided to householders through grants for the improvement of a private water supply to a house.
The Protected Raised Bog Restoration Incentive Scheme (PRBRIS)	June 2021	Ongoing	A once off, area based financial incentive and voluntary land purchase scheme which enables the conservation of protected peatlands. The scheme is open to applications from eligible property right holders who wish to have their lands included as part of a restoration scheme or where access is required for restoration measures within protected raised bogs. The scheme is administered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Protected Raised Bog Restoration Incentive Scheme (PRBRIS) started out, and was successfully implemented, as a pilot program under the EU LIFE Raised Bog Restoration Project (LIFE14_NAT_IE_000032) otherwise known as “The Living bog”.
Grant for the Waste Water Collection and Treatment needs for villages and settlements without access to Public Waste Water Services	April 2022	Ongoing	The Waste Water Collection and Treatment needs for villages and settlements without access to Public Waste Water Services is an advance measure of the next Multi-annual Rural Water Programme. An allocation of €50 million has been committed under the National Development Plan for the period 2021-2025 specifically for this measure. The funding is intended to support demonstration projects that could inform a longer-term strategic approach to this issue. The strategic objectives of the funding measure are: Providing opportunities for rural housing development; Addressing risk to public health; and Preventing water pollution.
Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant	July 2022	Ongoing	The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, launched in July 2022, under the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund provides grant funding to support the refurbishment of vacant and derelict properties. It was expanded in November 2022 to include properties in rural areas and cities. From 1 May 2023, a number of changes are being made to the Grant to further increase the support being provided to bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use. These changes include: · The inclusion of properties which will be made available for rent, along with those which will be used as a principal private residence; · Changing the eligibility date of vacant and derelict properties from 1993 to ones built up to and including 2007; and · Increasing grant rates from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties
Ready to Build Scheme	September 2022	Ongoing	The Ready to Build Scheme as part of the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund was launched in September 2022. Under this scheme, local authorities will make serviced sites in towns and villages available at a discounted rate to individual purchasers who will self-build their own home and live in it as their principal private residence. It is intended that the local authority will either supply existing sites in their control or purchase sites or make them available for development by providing services and access to the sites concerned. The level of discount to the individual will depend on the level of servicing cost incurred by the local authority before the sale of the site but will not exceed €30,000. The amount of such discount will be reflected in the sale price of the site to the purchaser. All available sites will be advertised on the relevant local authority’s website and / or in relevant local publications along with a closing date for receipt of applications.
Ring-fenced Thatched Structures Fund	December 2022	Ongoing	A new dedicated stream under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) for Ring Fenced Thatched Structures, including an additional €500,000 of funding. The purpose of this fund is the repair and protection of thatched structures, along with supporting the employment of conservation professionals, craftspeople and tradespersons in the repair of the historic built environment.
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) Activation Programme	April 2023	Ongoing	A new CPO Activation Programme with targets identified for each local authority. The Programme involves a proactive, systematic and planned approach to the identification of vacant and derelict properties and engagement with owners of those properties to bring them back into use. It also includes guidance and supports for local authorities to actively use their legislative powers to acquire vacant and derelict properties, where engagement with owners has been unsuccessful.
Temporary Development Levy Waiver Scheme and Refund of Water Connection Charges	April 2023	April 2024	Temporary time-limited arrangements are in place to waive local authority development contributions and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and waste water connection charges. They apply to all permitted residential development that commence on site within one year of 25 April 2023 (i.e. not later than 24 April 2024) and is completed not later than 31 December 2025.