Call for overhaul of regeneration funding as Tipperary councillor says current model is ‘totally antiquated’
Funding streams such as the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and Urban Regeneration and Development Fund are “a waste of money” and take too long to deliver projects, a Tipperary councillor has claimed.
At the February meeting of the Nenagh Municipal District, independent councillor Séamie Morris said that the RRDF and the URDF take too long to bring projects to fruition.
The URDF and RRDF were introduced as part of Project Ireland 2040 to support large-scale regeneration projects.
Cllr Morris said the multi-phase structure meant councils could spend “hundreds of thousands of euro” on early stages without any guarantee a project would be completed.
“We’re talking four, five, six years for projects that may never get across the line,” he said, describing the process as “totally antiquated” and “a complete and utter waste of money”.
"I think we need to have a real look at how URDF and RRDF projects are financed, for instance, would you not be better off to give a certain amount of money to all the municipal district (MD) areas, and let them decide which project goes through, and that would be a project with only one phase in it,” Cllr Morris suggested.
This would cut down on the number of projects that get to phase one or two, but are never progressed for whatever reason, he added.
"That would save hundreds of millions, even billions of euro in paying out to consultants for projects that sometimes do not get past stage one, and can I compliment the staff, as I have always done, on sometimes getting a project to phase one, to find out that you’re competing with a similar project in the five different MDs in the county, hoping that you beat the next place.
"We’re looking at a project in Martyr’s Road that we haven’t even signed legal documents for yet, and we’re four or five years down the line,” the independent councillor pointed out.
"The Nenagh Historic Quarter, which everyone thinks is a fantastic project, that’s nowhere near getting over the line, but I do think we need to have a national discussion about how projects are put together, because they’re costing the taxpayer billions of euro,” Cllr Morris said.
In response, Nenagh MD district administrator Rosemary Joyce said that she understands the frustration with the timelines for projects, but that the funds do a lot of good across the district.
"I understand the frustration and it does take time, but the reality is though, we did secure €12.7million for the centre of excellence at Martyr’s Road, yes it has taken time to get to this stage, it is a very complex project. We have reached agreement with the property owners there and the matter is now with the solicitors,” Ms Joyce said.
"But that money was not in different phases, that came under the URDF, and under the rules of the URDF, there is one phase.
"On the RRDF, the next call for category one funding under this will be coming soon, and we will be looking to see which is the most appropriate project to submit for that,” Ms Joyce added.
"I think that it would not be the best move to start getting on to the Department and asking them to change the funding model at a time when we have the opportunity of putting in an application, and personally, I’d prefer to see the support of the elected members trying to push at national level for funding to be allocated to whichever application we submit.
“None of these projects are delivered overnight, but they can be a gamechanger,” she added.