Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have a proposal in regard to the help-to-buy scheme, which looks for a report on the potential for reconfiguring it to allow it to be expanded to include first-time purchasers of second-hand houses. There is an issue relating to the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme, which will not give a mortgage towards the refurbishment of an existing house. Across the country, we have a huge number of vacant properties in our towns and villages and a lack of supply of housing for people who want to set up their homes. It is an ideal opportunity but we seem to have excluded the idea of a second-hand purchase being something that is good. Something should be done in regard to properties any town or village, including in my constituency, so that we could bring a family back to town or village to create vibrancy there. However, we are not offering anything to do that. The help-to-buy scheme could be used to create that incentive, as well as affording the Rebuilding Ireland mortgage scheme the opportunity to support the purchase and refurbishment of existing houses for first-time buyers.

We all talk about the fact that we have homelessness and a lack of housing supply but when one looks around the country, or drives through any town or village, one will see the potential that is there. In Headford in my constituency, a survey was done by secondary school transition year students on the number of vacant houses that could be brought back into use if there was support for first-time buyers. Imagine what vibrancy we would bring back into these towns and villages if we did that. Over the past two years in my town of Tuam, I have seen people who have businesses come back in to live over their shops on the basis that it is better for them and their families are with them more often, rather than living out in the countryside. As well as that, they are in close to the schools their children go to. It is important that we look at this not from a developer's point of view but as an aid to help first-time buyers. I would be interested to see what report the Minister can bring forward on this matter.

I believe passionately that if we are to revitalise our towns and villages, we need to provide the infrastructure, wastewater facilities and so on, but there are towns that have such infrastructure and facilities. We need to encourage young families to come back into towns and villages.