Regional Aid
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Ged Nash (LAB), Louth

I thank the Tánaiste. We can all agree that vacancy and dereliction are a scourge in communities up and down the country. There is a particularly pronounced problem in my hometown of Drogheda. The Tánaiste will be aware of the extent of the problem in the historic core town centre of what is a very historic town, with some very significant buildings from an architectural and heritage point of view. Louth County Council did an analysis last year of the inner town centre area and identified approximately 58 vacant and derelict buildings. In fact, 46 of those are now in the area the council proposes the special regeneration area should service in the context of this scheme.
Close to 600 applications have been made since the inception of the scheme a number of years ago. There is a real job of work to be done by the Department of Finance and Revenue Commissioners to ensure the newly expanded and enhanced scheme is accessible and people understand how they might use the scheme and how it might benefit them individually and the towns we represent.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-10