Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the idea of trying to bring people back to living in the cities. According to the last couple of published censuses, the population in Cork city has been declining, which is a concern. There are many properties in that city that are in need of renovation. It would be great to see more families returning to live in the city. I am concerned that two years on from the introduction of this initiative we still do not have approval for it from Europe. Perhaps the Minister of State would update the committee on the reason for the delay and the sticking points raised by Europe that have resulted in that delay.