‘Hub towns’ denied access to some state funds, TD warns

THE designation of nine towns as regional growth centres is preventing them from applying for certain state grants which could help drive development.

A Labour TD from one of the towns – which has launched an ambitious ‘smart economy’ pilot project – has called on the Government to address the anomaly that he says is putting them at a disadvantage.

“It is ironic that you designate a hub town under the National Spatial Strategy but yet those very towns are impeded from progressing or drawing down state funds,” Sean Sherlock said.

The strategy, which was unveiled in 2002, designated nine medium to large towns or pairs of towns as hub towns because of their capacity to develop and act as “drivers for growth for their hinterlands”.

The towns, Castlebar/Ballina, Cavan, Ennis, Kilkenny, Tralee/Killarney, Mallow, Monaghan, Tuam and Wexford, were chosen to ensure that development would spill over to their areas from the larger designated Gateway cities nearby.

However, the Mallow-based deputy said the designation is actually impeding local development agencies from securing certain state aid.

Mallow is set to become a national centre of excellence in the teaching of maths and science following a series of partnerships between all its schools, third-level colleges and businesses. The project is being piloted in Mallow and if successful, will be extended nationwide.

But Mr Sherlock said much more local development could be done in Mallow, and other hub towns, if the funding barrier was removed.

In a written reply to the Dáil on Tuesday, Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Ciarán Cuffe, admitted there is a problem.

“My department is aware that eligibility criteria for certain rural development funding programmes, such as LEADER, may be defined in such a way as to exclude designated hub towns on the basis that these programmes are geared towards supporting development in rural areas.”

The Department of the Environment completed a report in 2007 on the need for coordinated investment in hub towns. It also identified the development issues and challenges for each hub and made recommendations to support and advance their future growth and development, the minister said.

But Mr Sherlock said the response is inadequate and the Government must move quickly to resolve the issue.