Urban Development Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-24 ============================================================ Kieran O'Donnell (FG), Limerick City I welcome the guests to the Chamber. I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. The Minister recently announced a new towns and cities regeneration investment fund, which Senator Boyhan has alluded to. While replacing the URDF, existing funding for URDF projects already approved will be incorporated into it, with a focus on supporting policies such as town centre first and city task forces, as well as integrated urban regeneration. The new fund will continue to deliver projects that are transformative and impactful in nature, contributing to the wider regeneration of the five cities and eligible towns. The Senator made reference to the closing date under the current call under the town centre first and city task forces. The deadline date for the new fund is 1 May of this year. The Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Department would certainly welcome a suitable application from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in respect of this. I will recap on the URDF funding for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council projects. Under call 1 of the URDF, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council received approval for four projects, with a funding commitment of €22.6 million. One of these projects was the development of an action plan for the Dundrum community cultural and civic hub, which was published by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in May 2020. Under call 2, a further €4.3 million in support for Dundrum community cultural and civic hub was made available. The total funding approved under the URDF to date to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council comes to €76.1 million. Under URDF call 2 on the Dundrum project, given the funding allocation available, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has chosen to focus on the public realm elements of the project. Following a number of engagements with the project team in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council with the Department, it recently submitted a preliminary business case for the Dundrum interchange and civic plaza project. The preliminary business case is currently being reviewed in line with the requirements of the infrastructural guidelines for approval gate 1, AG1, or approval in principle. This review is expected to take a few more weeks to complete subject to any issues arising. Once again, this approval will allow Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to progress with the detailed design, planning and procurement process. Thereafter, and while Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will be required to submit an updated cost plan at pre-tender stage, the project is expected to proceed directly to tender. A further detailed submission will be required at final business case stage once the tender process is near its completion. My Department will continue to work closely with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on this project and all other projects in its current URDF programme. As with all local authorities, relevant officials meet at least three times per year with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and more often when necessary. However, the advancement of other projects through various stages of planning, development and completion, as well as the subject matter of funding applications is, in the first instance, a matter for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-24