Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Deputy Lawless. The Minister of State, Deputy English, is well aware that there are many towns and villages with empty, dilapidated buildings that are not contributing to the well-being of the communities in which they are situated. The associated issues may concern title, conveyancing, lack of funds, banks not lending and no retail activity. As we know, this is against the backdrop of a housing crisis or emergency. Will the Minister of State confirm he is investigating ways in which compulsory purchase orders, CPO, powers for local authorities could be improved or council-sponsored loans or grants could be made available to initiate residential development in these buildings and revitalise the affected towns and villages?

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