Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
74. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the measures being taken to tackle vacancy and dereliction in our towns and villages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28352/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is crucial that Government continues to address the issues of vacancy and dereliction in our towns and villages. I would appreciate any insights into the Department's efforts to revitalise our towns and villages.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. 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. It supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland, which is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental well-being and development. A key aim of both this policy and the Our Rural Future policy is addressing vacancy and dereliction and ensuring that the policies and schemes in place directly address and tackle these issues in our rural towns and villages. This complements other national policies such as Housing for All and the national planning framework that also aim to tackle vacancy and support local communities.
Central to the town centre first approach is the range of support funding in place, including my Department’s rural regeneration and development fund and the town and village renewal scheme. Last November, I announced funding of €115 million for regeneration projects across rural towns under my Department's rural regeneration and development fund for 2022.
These projects include a focus on combating vacancy and dereliction by regenerating iconic town centre buildings such as old hotels, banks, schools and courthouses. Similarly, last December I announced €27 million in funding to combat dereliction and breathe new life into rural towns and villages under the 2022 town and village renewal scheme. I have approved funding of €5.4 million to support the first tranche of projects under the 2023 building acquisition measure. This funding will see some 23 vacant or derelict buildings purchased by local authorities and brought back into use as multipurpose community spaces. My Department remains committed to the success of the Town Centre First policy to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages as set out in Our Rural Future.
I thank the Minister for her response. The two policies outlined in her statement around the Town Centre First policy and the town and village renewal scheme are crucial in addressing the pervasive challenges around dereliction and vacancy in many rural towns and villages throughout the country. As someone who advocates for the development and revitalisation of our rural communities, which the Minister is also passionate about, I wish to emphasise the importance of these schemes. She is allocating the money as outlined. It is €115 million under the RRDF. She approved the first tranche under the building acquisition measure and the town and village renewal scheme is also in place, for €5.4 million. That is important. What I specifically like about these schemes is the comprehensive approach that is taken involving local authorities, community groups and businesses to ensure value for money in terms of what is being rejuvenated in our rural towns and villages. Will the Minister provide additional information regarding when the other measures under the town and village renewal scheme will be announced? Are other announcements due under these measures to support our towns and villages and rejuvenate them?
I agree with my colleague. In particular, under the derelict sites initiative for towns and the Tidy Towns committees for which she has responsibility, funding has been very well spent by the committees. They are frustrated by derelict buildings. Even though I say this against my own local authority, it had an opportunity to buy houses recently from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, but did not deliver. It is probably one of the worst counties in the country. We have to judge the local authorities. The Minister provided funding and they have to be judged on what they do with derelict sites. Mayo County Council did three but I am open to correction on that. It talks a great deal about derelict sites and everything else but it does not deliver on them. We need to get these derelict sites out of towns. It is not fair on businesses that are trying to keep their properties up and running, repainting them and looking after them. It is not fair to have a vacant site beside them for 20 years with nothing done about it. There is now an opportunity to buy some of these vacant sites. I hope the council will. It needs to start using the Derelict Sites Act 1990 more. That Act is there and the powers are there.
I thank the Deputies. They are both right. Plenty of money is available. It has been made available to local authorities to identify these buildings and to purchase them. Now of course my Department is providing €100,000 per annum to each local authority for a town regeneration officer. The Department is committed to providing this funding for a fixed three-year period. Some 24 town regeneration officers have been appointed. The remaining two positions in counties Kerry and Kildare will be filled shortly. This gives an opportunity for the town regeneration officer to liaise with local businesses and the local community to identify what needs to be done in the town. Through the Town Centre First plans, 26 towns throughout the country have been selected under the first phase with each receiving €100,000 to develop the plans. They includes Killala, County Mayo. Support is there for local authorities that want to deal with this issue.
I thank the Minister again for her response. I commend her and her Department on their commitment to rural development. I applaud the positive impact under the town and village renewal scheme and the Town Centre First policy. Certainly, as Deputy Ring outlined, the implementation on the ground through local authorities has been disappointing to a degree. Castlebar historic core was allocated more than €11 million under the URDF by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We would like to see other URDF projects implemented and started much more quickly. Through the Department of Rural and Community Development, we should have a special delivery team or project team to ensure that they work on a collaborative basis with the local authorities in order that they can move through the decision-making process, be it through procurement, design, tender and construction, and achieve swifter delivery. The Department is allocating the money. I am sure the frustration from the Minister's side is that they are not delivering quickly enough. Will the Department issue a special delivery team for the projects?
I have a question on a similar issue. Dereliction is a substantial problem in many villages and towns but also in some urban areas. While under different funding streams, sometimes we neglect how significant a role vacancy, even if not quite dereliction, can play. There could be three or four buildings next to each other on a street that might not be derelict or reportable under the derelict buildings register but they can still impact on the vibrancy of a town or village. That in itself can be a challenge. We need local authorities to be more aggressive. For example, Louth County Council is very aggressive in that regard. I commend it on that. There needs to be more aggression. There are two potential challenges. The first relates to tradespeople and builders. If a builder has a choice between taking on a risky vacant or derelict property as opposed to an extension, the incentives are not great. The other challenge, and I wonder whether the Department can do more in this regard, is it can often be difficult with vacant or derelict properties to perfect title on unregistered property, particularly in the old cores of towns. Can the Department do much to support that to assist tackling vacancy and dereliction?
I do not think my Department can do anything in regard to perfecting title on properties but what we can do is support individuals through the Croí Cónaithe fund administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. That is a popular fund. The threshold has now been increased to €50,000 for a vacant property and €80,000 for a derelict property. However, it does not have to be derelict either. It can be vacant or gone past use. They can be repurposed through the RRDF. That is a good fund for local authorities to acquire and repurpose buildings. Whether they are repurposed into a library or a remote working hub, there are many opportunities. Since the town and village renewal scheme started in 2016, County Mayo has received €6.3 million in funding. That is considerable funding. Under the RRDF, which in fairness Deputy Ring set up and got the money for, €1 billion has been provided. That is a lot of money. It is paying off Mayo has received €31.8 million since it was set up. A great deal of money is being invested in rural areas and rural towns and villages. I travel up and down the country looking at this and it is really paying off. There is a new air of optimism in rural Ireland. We deserve it.
