asked the Minister for the Environment having regard to a recent decision by Naas Urban District Council, County Kildare not to take up the incentives offered under the urban renewal scheme, if he will now include the urban area of Portlaoise, County Laois as a designated area in the context of the Government's programme.
Written Answers - Urban Renewal Scheme.
47.
An essential feature of the special scheme of urban renewal under the Urban Renewal Act, 1986 and the Finance Act, 1986 is that it is confined to a limited number of towns, and to limited areas within those towns, in order to avoid dissipating the benefits of the scheme.
The scheme applies only to designated areas within some of the larger urban centres. I have no proposals at present to extend the scheme to Portlaoise.