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

There will be a strong policy in the draft guidelines to bring derelict and older properties back into use. I understand and appreciate the circumstances that Deputy Colm Burke is referring to and the challenges that people have in bringing those properties back into use. There do not need to be any impediments to doing that. As I said, one environmental assessment was completed yesterday and hopefully the second will be completed this month. I expect that public consultation will take a couple of weeks. The unknown aspect is the number of submissions that may emanate from that process. As the Deputy will know from going around the country, there is significant interest in the guidelines because they are critical to underwriting rural areas and ensuring that they are kept vibrant. The Government has a suite of measures relating to vacancy and regeneration to do just that. We will act on them quickly. Once the submissions are in, we will have to respond to them. As I said, we are talking about weeks, not months, in this regard. We will act quickly. The local authority network will be able, by way of variation, to incorporate those submissions into their development plans.

See this speech in context