Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Unless there is anything the witnesses would like to add, I will thank them for their attendance and for their incredible work. As I said at the start, there has been a concerted effort such as we have never seen before across local government and in the Department. We have seen that over recent years. With regard to the comment on the voids, to me, it does not matter whether a local authority property has been vacant for six months or six weeks, a refurbishment to a high standard will provide a home. I am satisfied with the reporting on it.

I will go back over some of the things we have requested to make sure the witnesses are clear. They mentioned certain figures and targets in the first round. Deputy Ó Broin wrote them down, but could we get them for the committee as well? I ask that a six-monthly report on the targets set for the local authorities be considered so that we can see which local authorities are making progress and which are not because, as a committee, we could invite them in and hold them to account in the same way that we invited them in to present on the delivery of social housing. I asked about the breakdown between what was within town settlements and what is outside with regard to the Croí Cónaithe scheme and towns and villages. We would be interested in any updates or progress reports on the derelict sites review. On bringing homes back into use, if there is to be a reissue following the review of Part B, the committee would appreciate being kept up to date. We would also be interested in reporting on the town centre pathfinder projects. If and when reports come back on the ready to build scheme, such as reports on what local authorities have identified sites, those would be helpful. We could probably incorporate that into the targets for local authorities.

I thank the witnesses for their time. We really appreciate it. We ask them to keep up the good work.