Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Exactly.

The new 2040 plan will make it harder again, as it is forcing people into certain settings. HAP is not our biggest problem. I deal with MABS on a daily basis. Our problem is that we do not have properties. We do not have the infrastructure to build properties. Derelict properties in towns and villages are on the sewerage system but it is too expensive to renovate them because the regulations are too extensive. It depends on what town they are in. The properties are left derelict and they are not being renovated but they are being taken into account in working out the capacity of the sewerage system in the context of building new houses. In one area, one might have 21 derelict properties that could be invested in. The infrastructure is there and they are on the system. We must get people back into towns and villages. We must get people into derelict properties. Funding must be allocated. We need to relax the restrictions. Iconic buildings should be retained, and the streetscape maintained but houses should be built in towns and villages where we currently have infrastructure. Otherwise, people in County Limerick will not get to live in a house near their area because there is no infrastructure. All the infrastructure seems to be put into the cities. HAP is not the issue: infrastructure is the issue. We must have proper houses that are habitable that we can get people into.