Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I very much support the waiver and all the work that has been done on it. Some very good points have been made in respect of the importance of enforcement and how it has to be resourced to ensure this does not impact on people with disabilities. We have seen that public space being put back into public use works best when it is done in a managed and planned way. New Street in Malahide is a very good example of that, as is Dún Laoghaire and what has happened in Cork city. That is not to take away from what others have done elsewhere. When it is done on an ad hoc basis, however, it can be a bit more chaotic and create more problems. Local authorities should be encouraged and resourced to do this in a planned, coherent and managed way. That is the way to go and it should be supported.

I wish to ask the Minister about two related measures he is bringing in. This is very much about putting life back into towns, villages and public spaces. He recently announced that he is getting rid of the full rates refund that many local authorities sometimes got in the context of vacant commercial units. That is a very welcome measure. I flagged with him previously that there is a loophole, especially in the context of newer commercial units that may have been built ten or 15 years ago but are not fully completed. They are still considered shells and my understanding is that they have never been subject to rates, so they escape from paying rates and, potentially, from the measure being considered by the Minister. Does he have a plan to shut down that loophole? How will he address it? It is important that he does so.

I refer to the other measures he announced recently in terms of getting more development into cities through the Croí Cónaithe fund and the subsidies for developers in the context of apartments and viability. Developers consider a viable project to be one including a minimum of 15% profit margin. Will that viability allow for that 15% profit margin? What measures will be in place to curtail that? What is the view of the Minister in that regard?