I propose to take Questions Nos. 633 and 634 together.
Project Ireland 2040 signals a significant policy shift towards securing more compact and sustainable urban and rural development, which requires significantly more effective land management in key development areas. Against that background, it is proposed to establish a National Regeneration and Development Agency to assist in ensuring a more effective approach to strategic land management, particularly in terms of publicly owned land.
The Agency will act as a national centre of expertise, working with and supporting local authorities, public bodies and other interests, to harness public lands as catalysts to stimulate regeneration and wider investment and to achieve compact, sustainable growth, with a particular emphasis on complex regeneration projects. The Government is currently working on finalising arrangements for the establishment of the Agency.
Project Ireland 2040 also provides for the establishment of €3 billion in urban and rural focused regeneration and development funding: €2 billion for urban regeneration and development purposes, focusing on cities and towns in excess of 10,000 in population, complemented by a €1 billion fund for rural regeneration of smaller towns and villages, which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Rural and Community Development.
The Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) will be a competitive, bid-based programme, that will operate on a multi-annual basis over the period to 2027.
An outline of the approach that the Government intends to take in relation to the URDF along with other complementary NDP funds will be published shortly. URDF bids for funding will be invited focused on an initial three-year period to 2021, with the scope for further bids in 2019 and subsequently over the life of the NDP.