Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Fingal has got €2.7 million since 2016 under the town and village renewal scheme. Cork city got €1.5 million and Cork county got €7.9 million. There has been considerable investment in both counties. The town and village renewal scheme provides grants of up to €500,000 for large-scale projects. If you need more funding for bigger projects, there is the rural regeneration fund. The town centre first officers are making a difference, as is giving extra funding to town teams, which are local people. Local people know what towns need. They have a wealth of local knowledge as to who owns which property and how it can be acquired or could be sold. We have given them extra money to support them to increase their capacity. They are making a difference. Town centre first officers are working well across local authorities. I was in Urlingford only last week. I opened a new hub there. It is a former bank building. I find I am going to more and more old banks because banks are closing. This is the world we live in. We have to repurpose them and find other uses for them. It is now a remote working hub. It is on the main road from Limerick to Dublin. You can drop off there, take a break and do some remote work. That is the big selling point. It is off the main motorway.

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