Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Vacant homes are a serious issue around the country but they are no less of an issue in the inner city. The difference is that in the inner city, Dublin City Council is responsible for these empty homes. A short walk from here I could show the Minister ten empty flats that are boarded up. That is ten homes that could house people in homelessness or in overcrowded or unsafe conditions. Dublin City Council flats can be empty for months. There needs to be a speedier process to reactivate the flats. In some cases, flats are empty for nearly a year.

Some flats are empty while plans are put in place for regeneration or redevelopment but the process of redeveloping flats is tortuously slow and as a consequence, homes are left empty for a very long time. One development that is a five-minute walk from here on Fenian Street is a very good example. The council met residents of St. Andrew's Court three or four years ago and put proposals to them for redevelopment. It is a big redevelopment plan and while people were concerned and anxious about it, generally it was welcomed. People were happy that public housing would be built on public land. However, the process is absolutely crawling and the homes at St. Andrew's Court have been empty for years. Approximately 15 flats are just sitting there, empty and the project is only at the design team stage.

Pearse House residents are also facing a regeneration scheme but if it is going to take as long as St. Andrew's Court, it will be a disaster for residents living in the inner city who are under huge pressure and in desperate need of housing. The turnaround of voids also needs to be accelerated. There are five or six voids in Pearse House at the moment. People who are living in horrendous conditions are looking at flats that are boarded up, empty and derelict. The turnaround of voids and the process for the regeneration of flat complexes such as Pearse House and St. Andrew's Court needs to be fast-tracked. If it is not fast-tracked, it amounts to neglect of the residents who are living in accommodation that nobody in 2022 should be expected to live in. It is often said that Pearse House is a beautifully built art deco building and, indeed, the architecture is lovely but for people having to live there, it is a sentence. That is just not acceptable and it must be changed. Redevelopment must be fast-tracked. We cannot have people living in substandard accommodation for years and years when the process can be speeded up through fast-tracking.

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