I refer to the commitment in the programme for Government to launch a new town and city infrastructure investment fund to replace the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF. Regional towns such as Clonmel cannot access the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, or the town and village renewal scheme, so this new fund is crucial. Clonmel has a shovel-ready project. Matched funding has been set aside. Can the Minister give any indication of when the Government might launch this fund? Crucially, will a specific allocation be set aside for regional towns so that the big cities will not dominate the allocations?

I remember being in Clonmel with the Deputy during the summer. On what was otherwise a bright and great morning, the Deputy walked around the centre of Clonmel and pointed out to me the number of properties that were not being used and were on the verge of dereliction.

I cannot give him an exact timeline for when this fund will be available, but I can assure him of two things. First, the capital funding that is available to the Department of housing is continuing to grow. Within that, the Department will prioritise the roll-out of either the URDF or its replacement. Second, we will continue to look at the grants that are available to address dereliction because, while I can see them working in some parts of the country, I could clearly see on that day in Clonmel with the Deputy the challenges that were still there. We have to do better on those because it is vital to show the local communities the Deputy represents that we are giving them the place and environment they deserve in their towns.