Ms Orla Murphy:

Yes, I think so. At the moment it feels as if we have built a system that is barrier-based when, if we think about the problem, what we want is to flip that situation completely so that the system is support-based. This afternoon we have heard about local authorities engaging with people in their towns and city districts to help them with derelict properties but I do not think that is happening in a co-ordinated way, and in a way that can be a softer approach and is also supported by more streamlined legislation.

It is a complicated process and there are financial barriers. We have had many reports to try to understand those barriers and opportunities. This links to a point I wanted to make in response to Deputy Ó Broin's question. We should not forget that we need to have confidence in our urban areas being beautiful, attractive places to live and that people will then want to move into them. When we do that, we should make sure that any property that has been vacant for a long time is released back to the market. There needs to be some kind of taxation strategy to disincentivise active hoarding. At the same time, we have to build confidence to make the procedure as easy as possible and to be supportive in everything we do, so that we do not see legislation as being barrier-led but enabling-led.