Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last Tuesday morning I was in Bundoran, at the other end of my constituency, where the issue raised concerned the number of buildings in the town that are closed. Nobody is living in them and nothing is happening with them. That is another aspect of this. While this funding is for public and community works, there are many people who own buildings that are a liability rather than an asset. If some element of a scheme could be brought in to provide funds to help people turn those liabilities into assets in which people could live in towns and villages throughout the country, it would make a huge difference. I have spoken about that to the Minister previously but at this point we know there are major problems in many areas of the country. One of the big problems we have is housing, which is an issue all of us and every Department has a responsibility to try to do something about in a proactive way. I am aware some local authorities put the squeeze on people through threats of compulsory purchase orders and so on. In most cases they cost a lot of money and they do not work. If some incentive could be put in place to encourage people to generate these buildings into housing accommodation for people they would become an asset they can use: the Government would get tax on it as well. It makes common sense and I implore the Minister to do something around that issue.

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