2026-05-21

93. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht for an update on the commitment to resource the town centre first model and establish a town regeneration team in every local authority, as outlined in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38004/26]

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their work on the town and village renewal scheme, the town centre first scheme and their engagement with me on these issues. I want to keep them on the agenda. Town centre first and town and village renewal are excellent schemes delivering tangible results for rural towns and villages. Suburban villages, like ours in Dublin 15, are not technically eligible. Will the Minister widen the schemes so more communities can benefit and could he do this for budget 2027?

I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in this with the Minister of State and I. As she knows, the town centre first policy is a key Government initiative. Within this Department, we share the town centre first policy with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I met with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, so that we can continue to ensure town centre first is relevant and delivering a real impact across rural towns and villages into the future. Significant progress has been made since the launch of the policy. This includes the establishment of town teams nationally, which is an important initiative, and setting up a national town centre first office within the Local Government Management Agency. In relation to our Department, I can confirm that 26 town regeneration officers have been appointed in local authorities across the country, including in Fingal County Council. These officers are the central drivers of the town centre first approach are the key link between the local authorities, towns and villages and their communities. As we discussed earlier, they do a lot of work that is unseen on identifying properties within town centres and identifying the opportunities in town centres. As well as that, they support town teams, help towns to access available funding and they have a national network to support knowledge development and sharing best practice. Town regeneration officers also work closely across multidisciplinary regeneration teams in local authorities. Those teams include the capital delivery teams that are funded by my Department, as well as vacant homes officers, broadband officers and night time economy officers. As I said earlier this morning, on a recent visit to County Laois, I witnessed first hand how Laois County Council's strategic approach is leading to the effective delivery of a wide range of projects across the county. The Minister of State and I continue to engage with officials on the Deputy's proposal for suburban towns. We also continue to engage with the Deputy on that. I very much believe and share her idea, which has also been expressed to me by other Deputies, that suburban villages and towns, which were the heart of communities, deserve support to retain their individual identities as cities continue to grow.

I thank the Minister. I appreciate how positive and successful the town centre first and town and village renewal schemes have been for my rural colleagues, which is why I want to access them for Dublin 15. There is a distinction between Dublin city or major population centres and then suburban villages that have been subsumed into the wider metropolitan area. Despite suburban growth, which we need, these communities still have village hearts, with residents eager to nurture, support and develop their village centres. During Covid, there was a new-found appreciation for local, suburban villages and supporting businesses and amenities in local communities within a short distance of people's homes. Building sustainable communities has never been more important. In places like Castleknock village, we would be looking at upgrading the public realm, strengthening walking and cycling access and addressing chronic traffic issues because that would drive more footfall to the village. It would bring more life to the village and would support the businesses. There are wider funding streams such as active travel, business supports, playgrounds and other community centre investment funds but town centre first is unique because it devises plans for the village, by the village, and it tackles specific issues within a village.

I like the concept of the village heart. We have worked and models in Fingal, St. Margaret's, Rush and Ballyboughal. We ensured funding under town and village renewal. They are more rural villages and meet the population criteria. I have asked my officials to examine those examples with a view to a pilot. I cannot comment on budget 2027. It is far too early to actually comment on it but regardless of budget, we have to look at the schemes and protect those suburban villages and protect their heart. It is also a good time to ensure that the Deputy's communities know the community centre investment fund is open to them for the refurbishment part, which offers up to €100,000. That opens in the next week The community recognition fund has invested in community projects across Dublin, within the inner city but also within communities. I had a good visit with the Deputy to Castleknock Community Centre and saw the amazing work being done there through community employment and other schemes. We are very much working on this. The town centre first policy should do what it says on the tin, and it is for towns and villages regardless of where they are.

I thank the Minister. He is absolutely right. There is a lot of interest in this. Interest is growing. I am just going to talk about Castleknock. The population directly around and including the village is about 15,000, whereas the wider area has about 30,000 people. That is why we are not eligible. We would not be eligible either under the urban regeneration and development fund. I have said before that we are falling between two stools. Just over a year ago, Fingal County Council agreed that under the town centre first initiative, it would actually do a health check for Castleknock and Blanchardstown villages. That work is going to start in September, led by a town team that includes Castleknock Tidy Towns and the Castleknock business forum that was set up about a year ago. That is really positive. They are working on diagnosing the problems in the community and seeking funding to activate the associated plans. There is potential in this regard under the town and village renewal scheme. It would work for other villages in my area, such as Clonsilla, Blanchardstown and Ongar. We want to replicate in suburban areas the Government's success in rural areas. My colleagues are interested in doing this in other parts of the country as well.

Absolutely. The Deputy is very much pushing an open door here. The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Deputy Chambers, has had similar discussions with me on this issue. The Minister of State in my Department, Deputy Buttimer, has mentioned Bishopstown, Douglas and other villages in Cork. We need to keep the focus on the actual scheme, however. The scheme has been successful. It has been tightly defined in terms of projects and what can be achieved. We have to be realistic about what can be done in a rural area versus a city area in terms of budgets and the availability of space on the ground. The most important thing the Deputy mentioned is how various organisations within her hometown, Castleknock, are being asked for their opinions first. The initiative is not just coming from city hall or county hall in Fingal; the community is running it. We had the privilege of meeting the Tidy Towns group and various other groups with the Deputy. Pride in the area is evident but we need to protect it, invest in it and, as the Deputy said at the outset, invest in the heart of the village.