Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I am a Green Party Senator and this issue - providing homes as quickly as possible in times of crisis - is core to us. I have taken Dr. Sirr's comments on board and I will introduce legislation on vacant and derelict housing in the coming two weeks. It is a crisis. Building in towns and urban regeneration are critical given that, contrary to Deputy Casey's point, infrastructure is already in place in many cases. We need to move quickly and should not be sitting back. The witnesses have given us a great deal of substance and super suggestions with which to do so. The onus is on the Government to move as fast as possible and, as Deputy Ó Broin stated, to put vacant and derelict sites to the fore, not to No. 4 or No. 5 in the Rebuilding Ireland policy document. We can get the impetus going as soon as possible and start providing homes for those who need them.