Mr. Hubert Fitzpatrick:

Planning is concerned with the sustainable development of the area. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those questions being asked about planning purposes because it means we have to review the appropriate way to approach each site. If it is more sustainable to retain the existing structures, that is fine. Any assessment will come up with what is the most appropriate or relevant approach on a case-by-case basis.

I might just turn to one of the previous points raised by the Deputy. We did refer to the fact that 7.7 million tonnes of existing construction demolition waste is soil and stone. If we were able to take the soil and stone and have it no longer classified as waste, we would be talking about a massive drop in the tonnage of waste produced in the economy. That is the whole objective of articles 27 and 28. The proper functioning of those articles would result in a huge diminution in the quantity we produce of what is classified as waste.

In response to the point on vacant properties, the biggest impediment to their renovation is the building regulations and how we come up with the appropriate standard that should apply to those units in order that people can safely and securely occupy them. The existing supports that are available should incentivise people to look at these properties in a different way because they are ideally located in town and village centres that are well serviced by public transport and other services. We should certainly support that.