Ms Maria Graham:

I will speed through the answers and the Chair can stop me if he wishes. The first question was about Croí Cónaithe and the targets. We see Croí Cónaithe as a mixture of sites that will be made available in the vicinity of towns and grants to refurbish vacant properties. For all the reasons the Senator has outlined, it is important to refurbish properties in towns. These must be for individuals to refurbish.

We have a target in the pathfinder scheme of 2,000 by 2025, but we will have to consider the take-up and how it progresses. Similarly, there are about 2,500 for the CPO programme to bring properties to the market. They are in tandem with the schemes that are under the social housing programme, working with approved housing bodies to see what they can bring forward. The Senator specifically mentioned the existing schemes such as buy to rent and repair and lease. The repair and lease grant has been increased and these are matters we keep under review. Local authorities have produced delivery action plans that encompass everything they will do in social housing. Under Housing for All, we are looking for action on all fronts, including the expansion of both the repair and lease and buy to let schemes.

The Senator also asked about the CPO process - I am probably skipping over a couple of things. In the programme we have been talking about, bridging finance will be made available by the Housing Finance Agency so that there will be a funding package in place. Work is under way by the Law Reform Commission because, as the Senator said, the legislation is very old and it takes a long time to go through it and, at this stage, it needs to be streamlined to recognise not only private property rights but the public good and the common good. There is a need to streamline and progress it quickly. We are waiting to see what the Law Reform Commission comes up with in that regard, and we are anxious to see this from a housing perspective.

The living city is a taxation measure and a relief that is given by the Minister for Finance. The current scheme expires this year. It is up to the Minister to consider the future direction of that. In terms of Housing for All, we have focused on schemes such as Croí Cónaithe. Money will also come from the URDF and ERDF. We are working with regional assemblies on that to see where the gaps are in terms of dealing with vacancy and dereliction that need to be addressed.