Ms Alison Harvey:

The vacancy levels are so high. The first town we completed the baseline for was Tralee. The rate for that town was 24%. I am referring to ground-floor retail. The target in Europe is 5%, and the proper range from 5% to 11%. I started a programme with no funding in the first year, basically because people kept coming to the Heritage Council to ask me for help.

On land use and transportation strategies, it is so important we look at what we have already and how land is being utilised or wasted. On the vacancy rate, one town with a massive road going through its centre had a ground-floor vacancy rate of 31%, which is unheard of. We really need to use the data wisely and target the vacancy rates we need to have. We should not be above 11%. Our rate is quite embarrassing at meetings with people from the Netherlands, Scotland and elsewhere. There is land already available. It is a matter of how we use the existing stock.