Mr. Richard Shakespeare:

The one thing we have found is that people are reluctant to engage with tax breaks, as the Deputy rightly said. Given the age of the stock he talked about, there is a need for investment. Various grant schemes are available but they could do with beefing up in terms of quantum, heritage buildings and the repurposing of those into usable spaces. These properties need some investment from the State by way of a grant. It is a difficult issue. As I said, we have had limited success but we prefer to move away from tax breaks and more towards direct subvention to the building owner to develop a property.