AN extension of time beyond the present deadline of July 21st for the current package of urban renewal tax incentives is being urgently considered, according to the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Ms Liz McManus.
She also said she would be organising an early conference aimed at charting the future course of urban renewal, following publication yesterday of a "very important" review of the experience over the past 10 years.
Ms McManus endorsed the approach taken by the review and said she would be recommending to the Government that future incentives should be linked to local authority strategic area plans for urban areas, which were still run down.
She said she would be looking again at the design guidelines for apartment schemes with a view to securing improvements, but added that she believed the Exchequer had received "good value" from the current tax breaks.