Urban Development
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

The social media companies as well, absolutely.
Deputy Heneghan referred to the living city initiative. This initiative, in the context of the changes that have been made to it, is a game-changer. The old living city initiative seemed to be something that civil servants in a certain Department created to make sure that it would not have any impact. They succeeded, because it did not have an impact. In the most recent budget, we dramatically enhanced what is available to people living in city centres. We have extended the initiative to Drogheda, Athlone and elsewhere. I am told there will be significant progress arising out of what we did in the budget last year. I pushed very hard for it. I do not understand the conservatism that has existed in officialdom for far too long on this matter. We need to provide every incentive we can in order to encourage people to live in our cities and towns.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15