Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will take the next slot. It was mentioned that this committee has been discussing vacancy and dereliction for the past six years. The conversation has probably gone on a lot longer than that, but it is safe to say that there has never been such a concerted effort to address dereliction and vacancy as we have seen during the term of this Government, including targets being set. The fact is that departmental officials can come to the committee and give us figures for targets that have been set and what has been achieved under various strands, that a very significant funding stream has been put in place under Croí Cónaithe for people to take on derelict and vacant properties and that there are vacant homes officers. That is action we have never seen before. These things take time. They take time to settle in local authorities. We can see the local authorities that have advanced because they have worked on these type of programmes for longer and how well they are doing under them. I expect the rest of the local authorities to come up to speed on this because it is not just about dereliction and vacancy. It also makes sense for climate action. Where we regenerate town centres, that regeneration creates more regeneration and we achieve the compact growth and densification we need.

I will direct my questions to Mr. Daly. On CPOs and the Derelict Sites Act, are there potential changes that could be made under CPO, the legislation or the Derelict Sites Act that would make what the LGMA is doing a little easier or more streamlined?