Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 March 2026
1009. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the next round of URDF funding will open for applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18534/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 2025 Programme for Government called for the establishment of a new Towns and Cities Infrastructure Investment Fund to continue and expand the types of investments made under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). As set out in Delivering Homes, Building Communities, a further €500 million to 2030 under the updated NDP has been made available for this purpose and, therefore, I announced a new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund on 5 March last.
This new fund, which will remain open for applications until 1 May, will continue to support urban regeneration projects and the development of sustainable communities. With a focus on supporting policies such as ‘Town Centre First’ and City Task Forces, the new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund will deliver transformative and impactful projects that will regenerate eligible areas.
The new fund will also provide a greater focus on disadvantaged areas. In that respect, I am conscious that, as set out in Pobal’s HP Deprivation Index and despite nationwide improvements in deprivation measures, the gap between Ireland’s most disadvantaged areas and the national average has increased. To address this imbalance, I am increasing the maximum funding available to projects located within areas defined in the Pobal Index as ‘Disadvantaged’, ‘Very Disadvantaged’ or ‘Extremely Disadvantaged’, to 90% of the overall project costs with recipients providing the balance. This increase will make it easier for projects from disadvantaged areas to apply from here on in. All other supported projects may receive a maximum 75% funding support as was the case under the URDF programme.
The 2025 Programme for Government provided a commitment to ensure towns which fall slightly below the population thresholds (of 10,000) are considered for applications under the new fund. A review by my Department of the latest Census 2022 data to assess the additional towns that should be included has been carried out. Informed by this review, I have decided that the criteria under the new Towns and Cities Infrastructure Investment Fund will be changed so that those towns with a population greater than 9,000 will be included. This will bring more towns into the scope of the scheme. Towns with more than 2,500 jobs, and which function as significant centres of employment, were also already eligible areas under the URDF scheme and will remain so under the new Fund.
While replacing the URDF, the new Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund will continue to build on its success to date and apply many of the key criteria established by Government in 2018 for the URDF.
My Department will work closely with local authorities in respect of project development under the Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund. However, responsibility for the location and composition of applications for funding and their advancement through the various stages of planning, development and completion will remain, in the first instance, a matter for the relevant local authority.
