Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly what we are doing. We want to give this very serious consideration. The Department has an urban renewal and regeneration working group that has been working with local authority chief executives over the past couple of months to devise new schemes and ideas. In addition, the Department works alongside the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. We will have a list of actions and a toolkit that will make living in these areas an option for people and make it attractive. Finance will be provided to restore some of these vacant buildings privately and for social housing but it is not just about that. Ireland in 2040: A National Planning Framework set out the economic reasons to live in these rural areas and regenerate them and that is what we must do. Housing and its benefits is one aspect of it. Using vacant stock is pillar five of Rebuilding Ireland which will be relaunched shortly with a major focus on tackling vacant buildings. It is also involves long-term planning. People need to know that there is a future in these areas and the economic purpose of each of those towns and villages we spoke about. That is what we are trying to do. We need to make that happen. We think local authorities are central to making this happen but they must have the toolkit at their disposal to be able to do that and that is what we will implement.

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