Alan Farrell
Ceist:11. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will detail progression of the town centre first policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27393/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 31 May 2022
Ceisteanna (11)
Freagraí ó Béal (10 píosaí cainte)
My question relates to the progression of the Town Centre First policy, which I know the Minister announced recently. I understand she has significantly increased the funding.
I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The Town Centre First policy is a major cross-Government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. Key to this is the establishment of the national implementation office to assist in the delivery and implementation of the policy, and to co-ordinate stakeholder engagement at a national level. This office will be responsible for supporting town regeneration officers, TROs, in driving implementation of the policy. My Department has agreed the structure and funding for the national office and the TROs with local authorities. The first step is the appointment of the head of the national implementation office. The recruitment process for this key post is currently ongoing.
Similarly, local authorities have now also been authorised to commence the recruitment of TROs who will drive the development of town centre first plans at local level across the country.
Key to the town centre first approach is the range of support funding in place, including the town and village renewal scheme. This year, I have included under that scheme a new building acquisition measure that will provide up to €400,000 to each local authority to purchase vacant and derelict buildings in rural towns and villages for development as community assets. This new measure will be a key support for towns in implementing the town centre first approach locally.
I am committed to ensuring that the continued roll-out of the town centre first policy will work to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages as set out in Our Rural Future. Under the town and village renewal scheme, we still have the other stream of funding whereby up to a maximum of €500,000 can be applied for to acquire a property and carry out refurbishment. That funding can also be used to repurpose properties that are already in the ownership of local authorities.
I really appreciate the Minister's response. Looking at every rural town and village across the State, particularly against the backdrop of the recovery from the economic crisis, there is a great deal of dereliction and vacancy. It is clear that this particular policy, as originally envisaged and now as an improved scheme, is really the foundation for co-ordinating the various funding streams that are available through various Departments, including the Minister's Department. It is really important to highlight the work of our colleague, the Minister of State at the Department, Deputy Joe O'Brien. One of the towns in our constituency, Lusk, was successful in its town centre first application. This is an essential part of the Lusk vision for 2030, which is a great opportunity to evaluate the community using the various officers that are going to be appointed. When does the Minister expect the rural regeneration officers to be appointed?
I wish to follow on from what was said earlier in response to another question from Deputy Stanton about the use of the compulsory purchase mechanism. In cases where property owners have defective title, I have seen that mechanism used by Cork City Council. The property owner engages with the council, the council serves a derelict sites order and rectifies the title problems through the derelict sites procedure and then conveys the property back to the property owner again, at a charge to the owner, obviously. This rectifies the title and allows the property to be developed and put to use. Has there been further engagement with local authorities about using this mechanism where property owners cannot develop because they have defective title and need to rectify that?
I want to come back to a question I asked earlier and to the fact that largest county in the country, Cork, quite often gets the same funding under various local authority schemes as the smallest county. I ask the Minister to have a look at that and determine why that is the case. It is clear why the people of Cork feel hard done by. We are very humble and do not like giving out but the Minister might have a look at this and let us know why she feels this should be the case and whether it can be rectified. It does not apply to all schemes. Under the sports capital scheme, funding is awarded on a per capita basis.
I am also interested in the timeline for the national implementation office and, in particular, when regeneration officers will be appointed at local authority level. We have spoken previously about necessary works at the Creative Spark Downtown Hub in Dundalk, the remote working hub that is up and running now and is a real success in what was a vacant site. We have a lot more to do and it is important that a town the size of Dundalk has sufficient resources to enable it to increase footfall in the town by enabling people to live in the town centre. Compulsory purchase orders and some of the other issues raised by Deputies tonight must be tackled.
That was a bit like a rapid-fire buzzer round.
I will go back very quickly, starting with Deputy Stanton. A sum of €400,000 is being provided to every local authority. We have just kicked off this new scheme and naturally we will look at and keep it under review. To be fair, if a line is drawn from Dublin across to Galway, the greatest increase in jobs recently has been south of that line. A lot of employment is being created. Thank goodness we are almost at full employment, which is good news.
I take on board what Deputy Farrell said.
In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, the local authorities have been given the go-ahead to start the process of appointing town centre first officers. We will get the national implementation office up and running first and that recruitment process is under way. The recruitment of the TROs will follow on from that in the coming weeks. Local authorities have been cleared to start the process. They can get the ball rolling. We do not want to hold this up. We want to get them appointed because I want them liasing with the town first teams, the chambers of commerce and local communities. What we want here is joined-up thinking.
Deputy Burke spoke about the local authorities and the use of compulsory purchase orders-----
I referred to the use of the derelict sites orders.
Yes. That is something I will leave with the local authorities. They acquire the sites and we just provide the funding. That said, I am happy to raise it with them. I am meeting all of the CEOs of the local authorities in the next few weeks and I will mention that to them.