Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 February 2024
270. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 414 and 415 of 12 December 2023, for an update in respect of his consideration of the business case; if it has passed decision gate 1; and the amount that has been drawn down to date in respect of the progression of the project. [5272/24]
View answerIn 2021, as one of the successful applications under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund's (URDF) second call for proposals, I announced a preliminary allocation of €7,140,000 towards Wicklow County Council's proposal for the regeneration of the Bray Harbour Area. The proposal, made up of 6 individual projects, includes amenity and public realm works, promenade boardwalk linking the promenade with the harbour, a cycle bridge, and a feasibility study to examine options to enhance the amenities of the existing harbour, such as a harbour wall extension.
In line with URDF policy, the preliminary allocation of €7,140,000 represents the maximum 75% URDF grant funding available for an approved project. Wicklow County Council propose to fund, from its own resources, the remaining 25% of the overall estimated project costs of €9,520,000.
On the 27 November 2023, Wicklow County Council submitted a Preliminary Business Case for the Bray Harbour proposal to my Department for consideration and approval as part of Decision Gate 1 of the Public Spending Code. At present the submission is still under consideration by my Department, with a response expected to issue to the Council shortly.
As the Bray Harbour proposal is at a very early stage in its advancement, no funding has been drawn down to date from my Department.
