Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions. To respond to Deputy Nash, the review began in November 2021. We have received a number of submissions from right around the country. There is a workshop this Thursday that will examine the content of those submissions. I hope to make progress early this year.

I will also outline that there are a number of funding streams in place to tackle dereliction. That is important. These provide a carrot for owners of such properties to encourage them to develop them into residential units. There is a very significant project under way which aims to bring 2,500 units into use by 2025 through a local authority programme. There is also the urban regeneration and development fund, which is targeted and to which funding has been committed. It is very important that capital is committed early in the cycle, which we have done. There is also the repair and lease scheme, to which additional funding has been committed. This has been reformed. Record numbers have been brought in through that scheme in areas such as Waterford city, eliminating almost all emergency homelessness accommodation in bed and breakfast providers. We also have the buy and renew scheme under the Croí Cónaithe fund. We are also working on new regulations which I hope will be ready for next week. These will bring in planning exemptions for pubs and other properties being brought back into use as residential accommodation. The Department of Finance is also considering the vacant property tax.

It is worth noting that, between 2016 and 2019, of the 70,000 units delivered in the State, approximately 13,800 were reconnections or unfinished estates being completed. That shows the legacy challenge we are trying to meet. A large proportion of these units have come from the vacant and derelict sector. There is a great amount of work going on. We continue to engage with local authorities to ensure they are resourced to bring properties back into use as they are best placed to do so. I hope the towns first policy will enable them and support them in that work.

See this speech in context