Urban Development
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I will. I did not catch it but I will now that the Deputy has drawn my attention to it. I will have a look at that. I am always very open to supporting production, drama and so on. The question is what the most effective way of doing it is. It is a core part of any city in terms of quality of life, which is important. We do not just live in an economy; we live in a society. We have strengths in that regard.
In response to Deputy Sherlock, the implementation bodies, as I said, are key. I have given her a timeline as to when that will be established. As regards my previous experience of SPVs, Temple Bar in its day was very effective in pulling the property together and getting things developed. SPVs can work.
Deputy Geoghegan referred to the living city initiative. We have transformed that programme, that tax facility or, more accurately, that urban regeneration facility, which can be facilitated by tax and grants and supports. We need to keep an eye on that to make sure we deliver it and drive it. I know Revenue will be waiting for the city council to come with maps and so on, but I think that should be okay for Dublin. I would have thought the maps were in. Department of Finance officials are saying this could take time. In my view, it should not take time in Dublin and it should not take time in Cork because the areas are already well known. The newer areas might take a bit of time, but in Cork and Dublin we should now really drive the application of the living city initiative and the changes we have brought in in the budget, which I think will have a significant impact.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20