Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and everybody who has contributed. This is an issue I am particularly interested in. It has been a very good discussion. On Ms Graham's contribution, I particularly welcome the circular that was sent around yesterday on the vacant homes officers and the progress that is being made to make sure that they are full time throughout the country. It has been great to hear about the Italian experience from Ms Vallone, in addition to the experience in Clonakilty. That input from Mr. Hogan on Flanders and Amsterdam is very useful. I was quite taken by Mr. Reynolds's statistic of 40,000 dwellings when it comes to taking houses back into the housing stock and his figure of 4,000 relating to Dublin City Council. We recently met with representatives of the council on this matter; I will get into that a little later. Ms Murray O'Connor hit the nail on the head. The information is not reliable and that is what we need in this sphere. That is the critical first step because unless we measure and monitor the situation we will not be able to move the dial on it and make real progress. That is something that we as politicians, across the political divide, want to achieve. Mr. Reid made a very good point on the benefits of living above the shop, which does not just have a benefit in delivering a housing unit but also has a benefit for rural Ireland. That is quite a striking point.

Housing for All is all about delivering 300,000 new homes over five years, but its primary focus is on new builds and vacancies within council stock. Senator Cummins and I recently launched a discussion document on vacant properties outside of council stock. We believe, as do most people on this call, that we can unlock additional homes through a drive that would reduce vacancy. Our discussion document set out 26 actions that range from setting targets, as Senator Cummins alluded to, on repair and lease, build and renew, derelict sites and CPOs. There have been two pieces of good news in the past week relating to vacancies. First, the announcement by the Minister that there will be planning permission exemptions for people who want to turn a vacant or derelict site into a home and, as Ms Graham spoke about, the announcement that vacant homes officers will be full-time positions in each local authority area.

These are welcome developments, but we need to do more because all of us appreciate that it is just not right that houses lie idle in the middle of a housing crisis. The big issue, as Ms Murray O'Connor so articulately explained, is the unreliability of the data. The CSO and GeoDirectory are the two main data sources many of us use when it comes to vacant properties, but they have very different ranges in respect of categorising the problem. They give figures of 42,000 right up to 92,000. That is some difference so we need to get reliable statistics and we need to quantify the problem.

Mr. Reynolds spoke about the potential for 4,000 new homes in Dublin city centre, yet Dublin City Council representatives told the committee that it could only transform approximately 16 vacant or derelict units into homes. It is very hard for us to hold them accountable when we do not have a reliable data source. I have to say, and I said it at the time, that I just do not buy the figure of 16. I am particularly interested in the figures cited by Mr. Reynolds and the research done by UCC and DCU. I would love him to take a minute to elaborate on those.

All Ms Vallone's talk of decluttering and the joy she is bringing to Clonakilty makes her sound like Marie Kondo, but I am a big believer in not reinventing the wheel, taking best practice that has worked elsewhere and adapting it to the needs of other areas. I would be very interested in hearing her top three nuggets that she thinks we could do quickly, whether that be things she learned from Cork or Italy. Mr. Hogan interjected to recount the experience from Flanders with its regeneration projects. He also spoke about Amsterdam. I would love if he took a minute to talk to us about the top nuggets he feels we could implement.

Ms Graham spoke clearly about targets. I support my colleague, Senator Cummins, and ask that targets are set for schemes such as repair and leasing and build and repair.

I will summarise my questions. Will Mr. Reynolds talk us quickly through the stats he is using? Will Ms Vallone talk us through the top three tips from Clonakilty or Italy? If there is a top three things Mr. Hogan thinks we could lift from Flanders or the Amsterdam playbook and shift quite quickly into Ireland, I would love to hear about it. Will Ms Graham reiterate the commitment to coming back to us on targets for vacancy, repair and lease and build and repair schemes?