850. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the reason areas fronting the River Boyne in Drogheda have been excluded from the SRA for the purposes of the application of the Living Cities Initiative; if he will review the mapped area and amend the associated Statutory Instrument accordingly to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63744/26]

868. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the reason an area (details supplied) which has never flooded is been excluded from the Living Cities Initiative; the reason the river areas were removed from Louth county council's original proposal; the specific Government policy or criteria that resulted in their exclusion; if the decision to exclude them will be reviewed; if the Drogheda Special Regeneration Area will be extended to include suitable properties that were part of the original council proposal; and if individual properties will be considered on their actual circumstances, particularly where there is no history of flooding. [63772/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 850 and 868 together.

The Living City Initiative is provided for in Chapter 13 of Part 10 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA). It offers income or corporation tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred in the refurbishment and conversion of qualifying residential and commercial buildings located within ‘Special Regeneration Areas' (SRAs). These are inner city/central town areas where there is above average unemployment, and which demonstrate clear evidence of neglect, dereliction and under-use.

There are four types of relief available under the Living City Initiative:

• owner occupier residential relief,

• rented residential (landlord) relief,

• commercial relief, and

• living over the shop relief.

Budget 2026 announced a number of enhancements to the LCI, with the changes provided for in Finance Act 2025. Firstly, it has been extended to the end of 2030, and secondly, it is now available to residential properties built before 1975 (instead of 1915, as previously). This building age restriction age does not apply in the case of the commercial and living over the shop elements of the scheme.

Furthermore, if the work is carried out by an enterprise, the maximum relief available has been increased from €200,000 to €300,000. It was also announced that the scheme would be extended to the five Regional Centres as set out in the National Planning Framework: Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo.

In 2015, SRAs were designated in the cities of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford. On 8 April 2026, further designations were made in respect the five regional centres of Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny, and Sligo.

In relation to the recent designation of SRAs, the administrative process included the submission of proposed SRAs by the relevant Local Authorities to my Department. These proposals were subject to independent review by an expert. The SRAs were designated by me having regard to the advice and recommendation provided by the expert.

As with all taxation matters, the LCI is kept under review.