Urban Development
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09