Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy to be able to speak on this important issue. I commend my colleagues in the Fianna Fáil party for bringing this legislation forward.

The housing crisis is one of the major challenges facing the current Government and to have faced its predecessor. Recent figures show there are 1,442 families homeless in the State at present. This represents an increase of 25% since this time last year. It is very clear, in light of the current housing crisis, that there is an urgent need to provide more social housing and other affordable houses.

While it is clear that the long-term solution to the housing dilemma can be achieved only through building more houses in areas where people want to live, there are short-term ways of resolving this problem. According to the 2016 census, 260,000 houses throughout the country are vacant. Common sense dictates that they could go a long way towards solving the immediate housing crisis. In order to achieve this, or fast-track the utilisation of these vacant or derelict buildings, the building control and regulation process must be changed. It is estimated that there are 4,000 vacant spaces above commercial units in Dublin city alone. These could be refurbished to provide much-needed residential dwellings. The pattern of vacant units above shops is replicated in every city, town and village.

During the discussion on housing in the talks on the formation of the Government in 2016, I raised awareness of this issue and gave the example of my home town, Schull in west Cork, where I said there are very few families who have lived over commercial premises. This trend, which has been evident over the past 20 years, has affected our towns and villages very negatively. I propose that we encourage families to take up residence over shops and commercial units by offering refurbishment grants. The refurbishment of the existing vacant residential and commercial units would serve a number of purposes. It will provide much-needed homes for families. It would enhance the appearance of the street, town or village and improve overall cohesion. It would give the residents a greater sense of ownership of the street, town or village and a greater sense of community, which invariably promotes a degree of responsibility and commitment. In rural areas, in particular, it would result in much-needed additions to the populations of small towns and villages, which in turn would boost local services. As the larger retail stores continue to locate outside our towns and cities, we need to ensure the heart does not go out of the town centres.

This Bill will accelerate the progress on the refurbishment of vacant houses nationwide, and I am fully supportive of it.

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