Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the speakers for attending. I have three quick questions, after which I will give my monologue on affordable housing in rural Ireland in the hope that the witnesses can give me comfort.

On the acquisition fund, which entails €70 million for acquiring vacant housing stock, it is to be targeted primarily through the Town Centre First initiative. In rural provincial towns in the main, there are many bank-owned properties that the banks probably do not yet consider to be of sufficient value to be cashed in. Are the delegates engaging with banks on their portfolios of property? Are they putting pressure on banks, saying it is time to come to the table and release the properties onto the market or allow for compulsory purchase orders?