Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Sep 1999

Vol. 508 No. 1

Written Answers. - Urban Renewal Schemes.

Paul Bradford

Ceist:

618 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will increase the number of towns in County Cork which can be submitted for inclusion in the town renewal scheme from the present limit of seven to 12. [18084/99]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy):

The guidelines which I issued in July last to assist county councils in preparing town renewal plans, TRPs, for the purposes of the new town renewal scheme identify over 200 towns with a population of between 500 and 6,000 – the population limits governing eligibility to participate in the scheme.

The guidelines contain a formula on the basis of which the number of towns to be considered for designation during the first phase of the new scheme is as follows:

Number of eligible towns in county	Number for which Town Renewal Plans are to be prepared
Less than six	three
Between six and 10	four
Between 11 and 20	five
More than 20	seven

County councils have been asked to prepare and submit plans on this basis.

Cork County Council with 25 eligible towns is the only county with more than 20 eligible towns and is, therefore, the only one with an entitlement to submit seven plans. In determining the number of towns per county for which plans were to be prepared every effort was made to strike a balance between keeping the TRP process manageable, while, at the same time, allowing councils to submit a reasonable number of plans for the first phase of the scheme. The first phase will run for three years and consideration will be given to extending it to other towns after that.

In the circumstances, I do not propose to alter the limits in the guidelines.