Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I will start with the issue of vacant properties. This week saw an inquest in Cork, from which it appears that there had been a body in a boarded-up house for over 20 years. It appears that the person died in 2001 and remained undiscovered for a further 22 years. What more action can be taken to deal with the issue of vacant properties? One of the problems involved is that of title difficulties, meaning that people cannot borrow and invest money. There is a process that local authorities could use, that being, a compulsory purchase order. I have not seen local authorities being proactive in that regard, though, or engaging with people on it. How can we fast-track the use of that process to resolve title difficulties?