Mattie McGrath urges Rural Regeneration for Tipperary towns

I want to inquire about the RRD funding for towns in Liberia, namely Carrick and Shore, Cahodoniski, Cair and Rosquay. And these schemes, as we know, we have had funding from the URD in many of our towns, but these are rural towns and since they lost many services, they need this funding for these regeneration schemes. I want an update on the matter, please. Thank you and thanks, Deputy. Funding of £279 million has been approved to date under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund for 191 projects nationwide, costing over €379 million. Calls for applications to the fund are sought under two categories, Category 1 and Category 2. Category 1 relates to large-scale, ambitious capital projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place which are ready to proceed. Category 2 provides smaller grant funding to enable the development of the project proposals suitable for future calls for Category 1 applications. The third call for Category 2 applications was completed in January 2022. I announced funding of £21.5 million for 27 projects from this call, including £1.2 million for the Rialto Digital and Enterprise Hub project located in Neenah. The fourth call for Category 1 applications to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund closed on 29 April 2022. My department received 42 applications to this call, together seeking funding of over €149 million. I understand that three applications for projects located in Tipperary were submitted for this call. The application process for the fund is competitive in nature. Applications are currently being assessed by my department under the oversight of the Project Advisory Board, comprised of representatives from key government departments and independent experts. Once the assessment process is complete, my department will prepare a report setting out recommended projects. My role as Minister will be to consider that report and make final decisions in relation to the allocation of funding. I expect to be in a position to announce the successful projects in the coming weeks. Thank you, Minister, and thank you for your reply. I do thank you also for visiting Tipperary. You did visit Calakinshure and Clonmel and Tipperary Town. I went on to some towns in North Tip. Yes, towns like Neenah have got better funding. We don't be good at that. But these towns, Calakinshure, have been devastated, for lack of interest, for decades. And indeed, Cairn is good employment, but it's a local, beautiful town. Indeed, the new king has visited there in spring this year. So it's a big tourist town and the development of the county council have put huge work into it for a car park and redevelopment of the square. Now, everybody might agree with it, and my own concerns about the parking issues. But, look, that, and Rossway, then, has to be also a town that's been hammered and hasn't got any major investments. And these are the kind of towns that this scheme now, as I said, is category four, must get some of this funding because they're falling off the ladder if they can't get the funding. So we can't have it all for the main towns. It's a rural development fund, and I look forward to a favourable outcome of those three applications that are in for Tipperary, of the fortitude that are in nationally. So we hope that there will be good news for Tipper Don, good news for Calakinshure, Cairn and Rossway. Minister. Yeah, thank you. Well, can I just say, Deputy, Tipperary County has done extremely well to date and has received the fourth highest total county funding allocation from the fund since it began in 2018. So over £15.1 million in funding has been allocated to projects in Tipperary in that period. And indeed, I was down, and indeed you were with me, Deputy, when I was down there. And it's wonderful the work that's going on. I was in Clonmel, I was in Carrickonshure as well, and you know, I was on the blue way. And that's a wonderful connection there. And it's a real, it's, it's, it's, it's a real boost to that whole area. And I was in Tipperary town and there has been good investment there. And it's only this year that I, I announced a further £500,000 for, I think it was for Tipperary town, for, for, for town centre work as well. It was on the town and village in, in, in February. So there's, there's major development going on there as well. And I know there's three more applications in, and I'm, you know, as I said, they're being assessed. I don't even, I don't see them until they come to my desk after they've gone through the process. Mr. Deputy McBride. Thanks, Minister. Yes. And you'll be welcome any time to Tipperary and to the, you know, and yes, I acknowledge we have been successful in funding in the major urban centres of, of, of Nina and, and, and Clonmel. But these rural towns, as I said, but this scheme is tailor-made for, to try and bring the vitality back to them. And I know you will, that you will be, you won't be disparaging the fact that we got four ties in the country. And, as you know, Tipperary, Leeds, Ireland follows was the old adage. And as I said, you'd be welcome any time to come back. And I'm pleased to go back and make the announcements and of the funding for Calic and Shure, for Asgrave, and indeed, my own town of Cahar de Niski. So, and thank you for visiting the last time. I want to come to the Minter County Council as well, and the task force in Tipperary and the groups in Nina, because without good applications, proper applications, a lot of detailed work, and you won't get any funding. So, I must come to the Minter, all involved in the towns that have been successful, and for the present applications that I got into, enormous work has gone into, and enormous, you know, I suppose, enthusiasm. So, hopefully, that enthusiasm will be rewarded. Thank you. Thanks, sir. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks, Deputy. And you're right there. Good applications have to come in. I can't give them except I get the applications. And for those towns that haven't got any funding in Tipperary, I would say that they should work with the local authority, because the applications, as you know, come in through the local authority. So, as I say, if I don't get an application, there's no chance of getting funding in that. But in terms of, as you see here, activating Cares Town Centre regeneration strategy, it's seeking funding of $11.9 million, and there's a number – I actually have them. I mean, Carrick and Sure is one of the ones looking for money, and reimagining and regenerating Gantry Street, seeking funding of $4.5 million, and then Cares Town Centre, again, this is a fairly big project. It's looking for funding of $11.9 million, and it involves a number of interventions that will assist regeneration in the centre of the town, and allow for significant future growth in the town, and includes refurbishment of prominent buildings to create an enterprise hub, a new library and public realm. So, look, there are good, exciting applications coming in from Tipperary, they're in the assessment process, and look, if the past record is not to go by, you know, you've been very successful in terms of your application. So, we'll work on that. Thank you.