Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2023
259. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for delivery of the URDF project in Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30394/23]
View answerIn 2021, following a second call for proposals under the URDF, I provisionally allocated €15,611,051 in URDF support for Carlow County Council’s Public Realm and Pedestrian Linkage Project in Carlow Town. This followed Carlow County Council’s successful application under the URDF’s first call for proposals in 2018, when €580,000 in URDF support was provided towards developing a master plan for Carlow Town.
On 29 June 2022, as part of the Preliminary Business Case approval process (Decision Gate 1 under the Public Spending Code), the allocation of URDF support was increased to €17,085,027 for the Public Realm and Pedestrian Linkage Project for Carlow Town.
In December 2022, following a request from Carlow County Council, my Department issued approval to deliver this project as two separate subprojects - the Railway Link through Carlow College project and the Town Centre Regeneration Project, which includes works to Tullow Street, Potato Market, Barrack Street and Kennedy Avenue. Both elements are currently undergoing detailed design works, with a view to informing comprehensive submissions to the Department for pre-tender approval (Decision Gate 2).
Further to the above, I have also recently announced details of the third round of funding support for local authorities under the URDF. Supporting key objectives of Housing for All, Town Centre First, and the Vacant Homes Action Plan, this round of URDF support has been specifically designed to address long term vacancy and dereliction across URDF eligible cities and towns.
This will be achieved through the provision of a €150m revolving fund for local authorities to acquire long term vacant or derelict properties (residential and/or commercial) and to carry out any associated works needed to de-risk or improve the site to make it more attractive for re-use or sale. The fund would then be replenished from the proceeds received from the end use/user thereby, allowing the local authority to put in place a rolling programme of acquisitions in order to tackle long term vacancy and dereliction without recourse to borrowing and the associated financial risk.
Following engagement with the local authority sector, including Carlow County Council, I am currently considering the final eligibility criteria and parameters for this round of funding, and will notify local authorities of their approved programme and financial allocations in the coming weeks.
Finally, it should be noted that while my Department works closely and communicates regularly with Carlow County Council in respect of their URDF Programme of works, responsibility for the advancement of their supported projects through the various stages of planning, development and completion is, in the first instance, a matter for Carlow County Council. Accordingly, detailed queries regarding the projects should be directed to the Council.
