2025-12-09

10. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if Dundalk and Drogheda will be included in the Finance Act 2024 to ensure that the living cities initiative can commence in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57738/25]

As it is my first time to address and put a question to the Tánaiste as Minister for Finance, I wish him very well in his new role. On budget day, Dundalk and Drogheda were cited as two of the towns that will be part of the new living cities initiative. Will the Tánaiste be so kind as to outline the next steps and how we will get it up and running in 2026?

I thank Deputy Butterly for her kind words and I look forward to working with her, as we already do on many issues. The living cities initiative is a targeted measure which is aimed at specific areas in need of regeneration. It currently offers income or corporation tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred in the refurbishment and conversion of qualifying residential and commercial buildings located within special regeneration areas of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford. The recent budget announced a number of enhancements to the living cities initiative to strengthen the scheme, with such changes included in the Finance Bill which has gone through this House and is now progressing through the Seanad. It was announced, much to the Deputy's delight and the delight of her constituents, I am sure, that the living cities initiative would be extended to five regional centres as set out in the national planning framework: Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo. The Finance Bill also creates a new category of relief which will apply to the part or full conversion of commercial premises, shops, buildings, etc., into residential premises. Importantly, the building age rule will not apply to such conversions. It is about trying to make it as easy as possible to get above the shop space or derelict commercial space back into use as well. The specific cities and towns in which special regeneration areas may be located are not specified in primary legislation - they never are. The existing areas were designated following consultation with the relevant city councils and an independent review by a third-party adviser. Specific criteria were set down in respect of the areas which should be included within the remit of the living cities initiative which were required to be taken into account by the relevant councils when putting forward the proposed area for each city. For the scheme to start to apply in the five new towns, including Dundalk and Drogheda, special regeneration areas in each town must first be identified and designated by statutory order made by me in accordance with powers already provided for in the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. The designation of the new special regeneration areas will require careful planning and preparation in consultation with the relevant local authorities. I intend to ensure that we write to the local authorities this week and ask them to return their draft maps by the end of January. I would expect the mapping process to be completed by the end of quarter 1, with applications to open by June at the latest. I hope this will be good news to people in Dundalk and Drogheda.

When two of the five towns identified are Dundalk and Drogheda in such a wee county, the Tánaiste can obviously imagine that the wee county is jumping for joy because we see this as a vote of confidence in the county in the famous, or infamous, M1 corridor. Drogheda and Dundalk have huge potential but let us acknowledge the fact that we have a lot of underutilised and older buildings - a lot of stock that can be regenerated. When these maps are sent in by the local authority, and I have it on good authority - pardon the pun - that Louth is ready to submit these maps to the Department for review, I ask that we take into consideration not the here and now, not a restrictive town centre with a couple of streets here and there, but the expansion out towards the settlement boundaries, and that we are planning for today but also for tomorrow and for ten years. Let us make the most of this initiative and give the businesses and the communities the possibility of reaping the benefits of such an initiative.

There is so much potential in the M1 corridor, that north-east economic area. The announcement of the partnership between Dundalk Institute of Technology, DKIT, and Queen's University Belfast has the potential to be transformational. I really believe that. Coupled with the living cities initiative, that will bring much-needed Government support through the tax system to Dundalk and Drogheda to tackle vacancy and dereliction. It will be welcome. We designate the areas - the maps - in consultation with the local authority. I am pleased to hear and know of their enthusiasm in Louth County Council. They are ready to do this. We will write to the authorities this week formally asking them to get their maps in by the end of next month. We will then have an independent third-party assessor. That is important for the integrity of the scheme. We did that previously. I would like to get the mapping process done by the end of quarter 1 and I would like applications to be able to be received over the summer period, from Dundalk and from Drogheda. I say that in the hope that the communities, the local authorities and everyone can begin to prepare for that reality.

This is not only about bricks and mortar. This is about restoring vibrancy and safety. Let us not undervalue the fact that when we get our town centres regenerated, working again and bustling, there will be the important effect of passive surveillance. People feel safer on the streets, but also at night-time, when you have people living above the shop. There is an added layer of security. When I say it is not only about bricks and mortar, it is about reviving communities. It is about faith and confidence in the local economy. Drogheda and Dundalk have huge potential. A lot of it has been undervalued in Drogheda. We have to keep going, but I am also very positive about the number of initiatives that have been taken over the last 12 months: the commitment from the ESB, the commitment from Uisce Éireann, and phases 1 and 2 of the port area northern cross route, PANCR, about to get going. I sincerely hope that phases 3 and 4 will receive the Government funding they need.

A supplementary from Deputy Neville.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for allowing me in. The Tánaiste would be surprised if I heard about the liveable cities and towns and potential economic benefits going to other areas and I did not take the opportunity to mention north Kildare and the need for regeneration of the towns in the context of the liveable cities. I am talking about liveable towns and how we can widen the scope of the scheme, which is obviously welcome. Last week, I spoke in the House about the housing Bill and the benefits of it. I referenced that when benefits are introduced, a lot of the time we see the small scale to the small towns and village and a significant amount of grant funding going rural communities. Often we see the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, and the living cities initiative funding going to these older towns to regenerate them. Often the towns that are missing out are those such as the Tánaiste's own town of Greystones, and Bray, Leixlip, Naas, Maynooth and Kilcock. How do we introduce a scheme that can benefit those towns in a similar way to the living cities initiative?

Deputy Neville is right. We have to be willing to look at every possible way to help tackle vacancy and dereliction but also to bring back vibrancy in towns, including towns that are not classified as older towns but are vibrant and growing and often have other challenges such as the population growing so fast and keeping up in terms of the infrastructure. The Deputy regularly keeps me on my toes in this House on the infrastructural needs of Kildare. There are some supports such as the vacant premises refurbishment grant that is in place nationwide and is having real benefits in getting premises back into use. Deputy Butterly is right that safety is a big issue. If we can get town centres with people living over the shop again, with no derelict buildings and either new businesses open or premises that will not open being converted into homes in a housing emergency, this is what it should be about. How do we recreate? What is the new main street or new town centre looking like? I am really excited. There are real benefits to Louth in this, to Dundalk and Drogheda. Not only have we extended the scheme to the five new areas under the national planning framework, including Dundalk and Drogheda, we have also improved the scheme. I encourage everybody to look at the improvements we have made to the scheme, including the new living over the shop element.