Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
333. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Finance his plans to expand the living city initiative, in particular to include the Ballybough area of Dublin city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27071/23]
View answerThe Living City Initiative is a modest, targeted, measure which is aimed at very specific areas in urgent need of regeneration. Introduced in the Finance Act 2013, it is provided for under sections 372AAA to 372AAD of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
The initiative is quite restricted in the areas to which it can apply. A key element of the scheme is that it applies only to Special Regeneration Areas (SRAs) in particular cities. The SRAs are inner city areas where there is above average unemployment and which are largely comprised of historic dwellings built before 1915 that demonstrate clear evidence of neglect, dereliction and under-use.
The so-called “donut effect” is regularly seen in cities, where fewer households tend to live in downtown or urban central business districts and instead reside in the suburbs of the city. This results in a ‘hollowing out’ of the city’s core residential, retail, education and commercial activities.
Following a pilot in certain Special Regeneration Areas within Limerick and Waterford, the scheme was extended to include such areas in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kilkenny. In line with the Department of Finance's commitment to evidence based policy-making, the inclusion of these cities followed the completion of a comprehensive, independent ex-ante cost benefit analysis.
The Living City Initiative acknowledges that there are specific areas of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford where historic buildings are suffering from neglect and offers an incentive to return these buildings back to family homes or retail businesses.
The SRAs chosen for inclusion in the Living City Initiative were designated following consultation with the relevant city councils and an independent review by a third party advisor. Specific criteria were set down in respect of the areas that should be included within the remit of the Living City Initiative, which were required to be taken into account by the relevant city councils when putting forward the proposed SRAs.
As such, I do not currently have plans to extend Dublin's SRA.
