Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 February 2026
292. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance for an update on the expansion of the living city initiative; when the new expanded plan will open for new applicants from the five new regional centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15751/26]
View answerThe Living City Initiative is a targeted measure which is aimed at specific areas in need of regeneration. It 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 (SRAs) currently of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.
Budget 2026 announced a number of enhancements to the Living City Initiative to strengthen the scheme, with the changes provided for in Finance Act 2025, including that it would be extended to the end of 2030, and that it will be available to residential properties built before 1975 instead of 1915. Also if the work is carried out by an enterprise, the maximum relief available will be increased from €200,000 to €300,000. It was also announced that the scheme would be extended to the five regional centres as set out in the National Planning Framework, namely, Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo.
The cities and towns in which Special Regeneration Areas may be located are not specified in primary legislation. Instead, the existing areas were designated following consultation with the relevant city councils and an independent review by a third-party adviser. Criteria were set down in respect of the areas which should be included within the remit of the Living City 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 (SRA) in each town must first be identified and designated.
I am pleased to say that my Department has recently received draft SRA maps for each of the five towns from the relevant Local Authorities.
An independent review of the draft maps will be undertaken to ensure the maps' consistency with the criteria for Special Regeneration Areas.
Upon the satisfactory conclusion of the review, it will fall to me, as Minister for Finance, to designate the Special Regeneration Areas by an order made in accordance with section 372AAA of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. I anticipate that the areas will be designated by the end of quarter one.
Following the designation of the new Special Regeneration Areas, the relevant Local Authorities will be in a position to implement the scheme in each of the five towns. The exact timing of that implementation process, following the designation of the Special Regeneration Areas, is a matter for each of the Local Authorities themselves, but I expect that applications in respect of all of the new Special Regeneration Areas will be open by June at the latest.
