Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I worked as a local councillor for a number of years in County Clare and am well aware of the issues they are trying to deal with.

Those issues are not easy to deal with. There are various stumbling blocks in the way that prevent us from moving forward with houses, be they local authority houses in need of repair, vacant houses, or residences over commercial units in urban areas, which is a big issue, given how there are many such residences not being used, unfortunately. Regarding residential spaces over commercial units in urban areas, what are Mr. Taaffe's views on trying to get them back into use? What are the witnesses concerns about not getting them back into use? We are well aware that there are many such residences around the country. How could we get them back into use?