Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
161. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the estimated cost of establishing a living town and city taskforce within his Department focused on increasing footfall to towns and cities and to ensure that a greater holistic experience is provided in order to encourage more persons to spend more time and money locally. [28850/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Retail Forum, which I chair, provides a platform for structured engagement with the retail sector.
The Retail Forum is supporting the implementation of the Town Centre First (TCF) policy and the Night-time Economy, and has established a dedicated Retail Forum Working Group on these matters.
This Working Group are considering practical actions to support town development in collaboration with the TCF National Office in partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and others; and will examine the types of interventions required for later retail opening.
“Town Centre First - A Policy Approach for Irish Towns” represents a major new policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It contains 33 actions which will give our towns the tools and resources they need to become more viable and attractive places in which to live, work, socialise and run a business.
The policy recognises that the needs of each town are different and acknowledges that a “one size fits all” approach will not deliver the outcomes wanted. The policy sets out a framework to facilitate and resource each town to chart their own future through a tailored plan, developed by a collaborative Town Team, and supported by their Local Authority.
It is underpinned by significant levels of public investment spread across major Government schemes such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), Croí Conaithe (Towns) Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
The policy will assist each town, through a Town Team supported by the Local Authority, to design, develop and implement a plan to make their towns more vibrant and attractive places to live and work. This could include the development of accessible and safe public spaces in the respective towns. The regeneration of our public spaces is identified as a key opportunity in the Town Centre First Policy.
A National Town Centre First Office will drive the delivery of many of the recommendations outlined in the policy and support the co-ordinated roll-out of the policy by local authorities, Town Regeneration Officers, and Town Teams.
Departments for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and for Rural and Community Development have agreed the structure and funding for the National Implementation Office and the Town Regeneration Officers with local authorities. The first step is the recruitment of the head of the National Implementation Office, which will be finalised shortly, and the recruitment of Town Regeneration Officers will follow on from this in the coming weeks.
The Town Centre First policy falls under the remit of my colleagues Darragh O’Brien T.D., Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Heather Humphreys T.D., Minister for Rural and Community Development.
