Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have been looking at this but have not done anything in the Finance Bill. Anyone with experience of rural Ireland knows that where the shops on the main street are no longer trading, the living accommodation over the shop is not in use either.

It is very difficult to come up with a scheme that would incentivise it. There was a previous scheme - the living over the shop scheme - but that required a viable business at ground level to avail of a tax break. That would not work in this instance. Quite frequently, the people who would avail of this would not have sufficient taxable income to obtain the benefit. It would be worth considering but I think a grant system that would apply to those who pay low rates of tax and non-taxpayers, as well as to people who pay reasonably high rates of tax, who could get maximum benefit from the incentive might be more efficient. As we saw from the upper Shannon development scheme for the building of houses, activity does not happen unless there is an economic base for it. Tax breaks alone will not encourage people to live in an area where there is no work or sustainable lifestyle for them.

It is a much broader issue than simply putting in place tax breaks or living over the shop incentives to develop a village or a main street. I would like to hear the views of Deputies on it. I have not come up with a solution despite the fact that I have discussed the matter with many people.