Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and welcome the fact that Croí Cónaithe will be launched shortly. I also recognise that Housing for All is an extensive and significant housing policy document that encompasses a massive range of housing, including social, affordable and private. That needs to be acknowledged, as well as the fact that success is being delivered within that.

A committee recently carried out an extensive series of meetings on dereliction, vacancy and regeneration, and how we can bring building stock back into life and concentrate not just on buildings in towns but also deliver nicer public areas and address transport to and through those towns as we bring life back into our towns and villages across the country. Croí Cónaithe will definitely support that.

Another area we have to examine is the fact that we know where the dereliction is and we are getting more and more information on vacancies. As the census reports and local property tax returns come in, we will have better information on that. We know where the derelict properties are and why we need to address that. We know it makes perfect sense and that many people now want to live in towns and villages, given working from home, digitisation and improved transport throughout rural Ireland coming on stream.

We also need to examine how we will do this. The current building regulations are comprehensive and vitally important, but they put an extra layer of difficulty on developers as they try to bring upper floors and second and third stories back into use. We need to examine the regulations, not in any way to reduce the regulations or standards but to simplify the process and make it easier for people to carry out that work.

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