Vol. 493 No. 1
90 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has received an integrated environmental plan from Donegal County Council in relation to Ballyshannon for the purposes of urban renewal tax incentive designation; and when he will make a decision on same. [15389/98]
In the context of the arrangements made in preparation for a new urban renewal scheme, Donegal County Council has submitted an integrated area plan to my Department in respect Ballyshannon, as well as Buncrana and Bally-bofey-Stranorlar.
Guidelines for that scheme made it clear that local authorities were expected, in selecting areas for the preparation of integrated area plans, to give priority to urban areas with the highest concentrations of physical decay and socio-economic disadvantage. The extent to which any case made by a local authority meets the criteria for the new scheme is undergoing examination by a broadly based expert advisory panel which I established last year to assess all the plans submitted and provide advice in relation to proposals for the application of urban renewal tax incentives.
Until such time as plans have been examined by the panel and considered further in the light of the panel's advice, it will not be possible to say which towns are likely to be included in the new scheme.
