Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Darragh O'Brien is absolutely correct concerning the fair deal scheme. It is one of the things I first suggested when I came into this role. There was a huge backlash publicly about forcing people in nursing homes to become landlords. That is not what we were talking about at all. We were talking about a situation where someone might want to get a property back into use and enabling them to do so in a way that would not penalise them. That is now being looked at by the Department of Health. Reforms concerning the fair deal scheme are coming forward in the legislative programme. My intention and hope, working with officials from the Department of Health, is to be able to put forward amendments at that stage to get those properties back into use. Those changes will require sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I think that many vacancies are coming from the fair deal scheme. Many vacancies also come about because of other reasons, such as probate, which can be difficult to disentangle.

Our ultimate aim, however, is not to use CPO. We want the threat of CPO to be strong enough to ensure that properties come back into use. An indicator of some progress in this area is the more than 7,000 homes reconnected to the electricity grid after more than two years of long-term vacancy because of engagements that have occurred. Between my Department and the local authorities, every area now has a vacancy plan and a vacancy officer. That is the result of the ongoing work we have with the local authorities on the important issue of vacancy. Schemes are in place to cover the costs that might be encountered where somebody might coming under the repair and lease scheme. In those situations, we will fund the work that needs to be done to get property back into use. It must then be used for social housing and that is an important caveat.

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