Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and the OPW are looking at how they can identify suitable State-owned properties which are no longer being used and could be passed over to the community. It could be, for example, an old Garda station lying idle. Rather than letting that property fall into disrepair, why not give it to the community? Through schemes like the town and village scheme, communities can get funding to renovate such properties for their own purposes. We need more joined-up thinking on this. I do not want to see buildings falling into disrepair when they could be used for good purposes.

Local authorities can be used. My local authority in Monaghan is good at working with communities to identify such properties. The local authority might buy the property and lease it back to the community. There could be a long-term lease. There are a number of options. I believe we can get the right solution. It is about stakeholders coming together at grassroots level and coming up with ideas. When such a property is identified, it is fine and well getting it but something is needed in it that washes its face in terms of running it.

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