Vol. 444 No. 1
9 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment the reason no town in south-west Cork has been designated under the urban renewal scheme; the proposals, if any, he has to remedy the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
22 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for the Environment if he intends to extend the urban renewal scheme to Tuam, County Galway; if his attention has been drawn to the urgent need to give this town a major economic boost; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
29 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for the Environment the proposals, if any, he has to introduce an urban renewal scheme for towns in rural Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
43 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for the Environment if there was any consideration given to extending the designated areas in Cork city; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
66 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for the Environment if he will sanction an urban renewal scheme for the town of Buncrana which is needed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
67 Mrs Doyle asked the Minister for the Environment if he will extend the urban renewal benefits to specific projects as announced by the Minister for Finance in the 1994 Budget to all urban areas and specifically to the Wexford borough area.
68 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for the Environment if urban renewal status will be given to Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, in view of the representations made to the Taoiseach on his recent visit to the town.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 22, 29, 43, 66, 67 and 68 together.
A new urban renewal scheme will come into operation on 1 August 1994. As announced in this year's budget, the scheme will continue to operate in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The size of the designated areas in these cities will be reduced to about one-quarter of their existing size; this does not preclude areas different from the present ones being designated.
In relation to provincial towns, the designated areas already included in the scheme will, in general, remain. However, new areas in these towns may be designated where the existing designated areas in the town has been fully redeveloped.
The new scheme will be extended to include the towns of Ballinasloe, Dungarvan, Enniscorthy, Killarney, Mallow, Monaghan, Mullingar, Navan, Nenagh, Newbridge, Roscommon and Wicklow. I am aware of the case made for designation of many other towns throughout the country but, to be effective, the scheme must be limited in its application. There are, therefore, no proposals at present to extend the scheme to towns other than those I have mentioned, and certainly not to all urban areas.
As a separate but related initiative, the Government statement of 24 April 1994 on western development announced that it was intended to introduce, on a pilot basis, an urban renewal incentive scheme in a small number of secondary towns in the west. The detailed implementation aspects of this are being considered.
The Minister's reply is disappointing. For the scheme to be effective, why must the number of towns to which it applies be limited? How would other towns and cities be affected if even one town in south-west Cork was included in the scheme? I suggest that the contrary applies and that the Minister's case does not stand up. Why is south-west Cork effectively declared a "no-go" area by this Fianna Fáil-Labour Government? Having regard to the 12 towns to which the Minister referred, is it a coincidence that towns in the constituencies of the three Ministers present were included? Is it not true that Nenagh is in the Minister's constituency?
Nenagh is in my constituency, but the scheme will be of more benefit to others.
Is it a coincidence that Enniscorthy, in the constituency of the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, has been included?
(Wexford): No town is more deserving.
Is it a coincidence that Newbridge happens to be in the constituency of the Minister of State, Deputy Stagg?
It is about time Kildare got something.
People in south-west Cork believe they are being discriminated against because towns in that area have not been included in the scheme. In the context of the current review, can the Minister give any hope to western counties?
If we diluted the effects of designation by designating every town, the scheme would have no effect.
How does the Minister of State make that out?
There would then be no incentive and the scheme would be dissipated to the extent that it would be rendered ineffective. A number of towns, including some in County Cork which are not, perhaps, in the Deputy's constituency, have been included. The Deputy should appreciate that a town in County Cork has been newly designated.
What are the criteria?
What are the political criteria?
Please allow the Minister of State to respond.
There are no Labour Deputies in west Cork.
The criteria for selecting urban renewal areas have not been set out in legislation. In deciding on specific areas to be designated the factors taken into account include——
Consult Deputy Connolly.
——extensive urban decay, location, the general character of an area, the potential for redevelopment, the historical or architectural significance of an area and the need to promote residential accommodation.
And political balance.
There has been a fair geographical spread of towns designated under the scheme.
There is one for everyone in the audience.
In regard to the Deputy's reference to west Cork and secondary towns, the report on the west of Ireland recommended that secondary towns should be given urban renewal status. The Government decided that certain secondary towns would be so designated on a pilot basis. A decision has not been made about the exact location of such towns or whether west Cork is part of the west of Ireland. I would argue that it is and I am sure Deputy O'Keeffe would do likewise. As yet, no concrete decisions have been made on how the pilot scheme will operate but we expect decisions in that regard shortly and I hope the news will be positive.
What is a pilot scheme?
As west Cork was included in the old scheme involving 12 western counties along the seaboard, there is a strong case that it should be included in any late review of this misguided scheme which has excluded my area as well as many other rural areas. Is it not a case that decisions in regard to this scheme are purely political——
Absolutely.
——and that it is not a coincidence that the constituencies of the three Ministers in the Department of the Environment are included?
(Wexford): Deputy Yates is happy.
Will the Minister confirm that a review will be held taking into account the needs of other parts of the country which, fortunately or unfortunately, do not have a Minister in the Department of the Environment?
Political considerations are not taken into account in the designation of towns for urban renewal.
Does the Minister of State expect us to believe that?
Primary consultations take place with local authorities and county managers concerning the areas to be designated within towns and counties. While other representations are made to the Minister, primary consultation takes place with the local authorities. An urban renewal grants scheme will be introduced shortly as a subprogramme to urban renewal which will make grants available to local authorities, civic trusts and other conservation bodies to carry out environmental upgrading works in towns throughout the country. It is not the intention that these will be confined to towns that have gained urban renewal status but they will be available also to other towns. I wrote to county managers recently asking them for their proposals in this regard with a view to having such works in place during 1994. Let me make it clear to the House that these decisions are based on the merits of the cases presented to me and not on political considerations.
Nobody believes the Minister.
I do not think anybody on this side of the House believes that. It is no accident that the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Ger Connolly, managed to get Tullamore designated during his term of office. Who is the Minister trying to fool?
There was so much dereliction in the town of Tullamore that it needed designation very badly.
As the Minister's party is promoting the Ethics in Government Bill, would it form part of ethics in Government that three Ministers managed to get towns in their own constituencies designated while places like south west Cork have no town designated? What exactly does urban renewal mean? How would improving the centre of Clonakilty affect trade in Newbridge and what effect would improving town centres have on other towns? Will the Minister apply the principle of urban renewal? There are many parts of Dublin where efforts are being made to re-establish the old villages, for example, Shankill, Cornelscourt etc., where schemes of this nature would be of tremendous benefit. Will the Minister consider looking at urban renewal in its real context of revitalising old areas and restoring the old villages and towns?
Is it that Fine Gael are opposed to urban renewal status being granted to Newbridge, to Wexford or to Nenagh? If that is the case they should say so. A good case could be made against them. They cannot have their cake and eat it. They cannot criticise the designation of some towns and accuse me of political patronage or favouritism in these matters. Fine Gael should put up or shut up. They are either in favour of or opposed to the designation of these towns.
As to the effect of urban renewal, probably the best example is where two pockets in need of renewal were selected by the county manager and improved and, as a consequence, the area between, although not designated, also improved. The Deputy can look at the excellent work done in Bray by the council. That is what is desired. However, in some towns urban renewal simply did not take off despite about £1,000 million of private investment. Such towns are getting a second bite at the cherry as they are not being de-designated.
I am in favour of urban renewal and of the designation of the three towns in the three constituencies mentioned by the Minister. My question was why other towns are not also designated?
What other towns?
Other towns in south west Cork, or Dún Laoghaire and many other places.
The towns were selected because they are the largest towns in the country. The largest town now excluded from urban renewal is Cobh and representatives from there are meeting with me tomorrow to make the case for their being included.
What about Dún Laoghaire.
I do not think a case was made for Dún Laoghaire by its local authority.
There most certainly was.
I can check that, but I am quite convinced that I do not even have a submission from the Deputy's local authority for urban renewal anywhere in the whole county. Places like Shankill and the other places mentioned were not put to the Minister by the local authority.
The Minister is supposed to be implementing the scheme.
No, the scheme is operated on the basis of proposals from local authorities.
It is like the national lottery funds.
It is not.
Here we have another example of partnership at work in this Government — the Labour Minister being sent out to explain a Fianna Fáil political stroke. In regard to the Minister's announcement that the number of designated areas in Dublin is to be reduced, will the Minister expand and tell us where that reduction is to take place?
I cannot tell the Deputy exactly where it will take place. The 25 per cent reduction is not confined to Dublin but is common to the five county borough areas. Quite a number of the areas previously designated in Dublin have been renewed and it is very obvious where such renewal has occurred. Some of the older areas will be redesignated and new areas will be designated. The object this time is to designated specific pockets and to be more focused in that sense. Pockets within Dublin will be designated for urban renewal and the upgrading that comes with urban renewal. It is obvious that in Dublin that approach has succeeded.
I reject any notion that the designations in Dublin or elsewhere are a political stroke by me, by my partners in Government or by the senior Minister. That is simply not so, and it is a falsehood to say so.
What is the normal time span between the making of a submission and the issuing of a response from the Minister or his Department, given that four years have now passed since the Chamber of Commerce in Balbriggan put together a detailed submission? I would like to know if it has been lost in the labyrinth of the Custom House?
The span of the proposed new scheme from 1 August will be three years. The old scheme will terminate on 31 July. In the meantime representations are received from councils, property owners, chambers of commerce, residents associations and others. A large volume of representations will be received. The most detailed and those carrying the most weight will come from the local authorities. There will be no response until a decision has been made. The decision has not yet been finalised but it will be in time to allow organisations to get up and running by 1 August. Within the next two weeks there will be final decisions on all the cases that have been put to us.
Is Buncrana included on the list the Minister has before him?
We have strong representations from Buncrana but there is no decision to add to the list of towns announced in the budget by the Minister for Finance. There is a decision in principle to designate a number of western towns.
Has a decision been made in regard to Buncrana? That is my question.
There is no decision one way or the other.
The Minister's answer is that there is no decision.
I am trying to be helpful.
Is the Minister aware that during the recent European and local authority elections, Deputy McDaid and other Deputies announced publicly that a decision had been made?
I am responsible to the House for decisions made by me and by my Department and for nothing else.
Will the Minister now give an absolute guarantee that south west Cork will no longer be a "no go" area in the context of the urban renewal scheme and that towns in west Cork will be given consideration when deciding to include western towns?
An absolute definition of the west is not available to me. I come from the west and I know exactly where the Deputy is talking about. I am not sure if west Cork would normally be included, but it is not necessarily excluded either. It is within the possibilities of examination.
