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

The Deputy is right. There are buildings that are lying vacant for years and we are all wondering why something cannot be done about them. As the Deputy and I well know, CPO is a complicated process as it stands. If a project misses one stage on the ladder, it goes back to the start, and that slows it down and delays it. The Town Centre First policy framework does contain a range of actions designed to achieve these objectives, such as the social and economic revival in towns. We have appointed Town Centre First officers and these are the things we will expect them to deal with. We obviously have to look at how we can acquire buildings that are falling down around our ears.

That is what we have to do. We will continue to work on it. It is fair to say that we have made considerable progress, when we look at some of the buildings in towns across the country that have got rural regeneration funding. There is massive investment to allow them to be repurposed as remote working hubs and for community use. If somebody cannot get a premises for some service in the town, there is no reason that they cannot go to that community building and find a space there. There has been massive investment and it is working. However, as the Deputy said, we have to keep at it and we can never take our foot off the accelerator when it comes to investing in and regenerating our towns and villages.

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