Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Once again, I thank the Deputies who made contributions. I will take them in turn. Deputy Ivana Bacik made reference to the general level of vacancy. We have commissioned all local authorities to come up with surveys of vacant units and to appoint the vacant homes officers do this. We expect to have that major body of work towards the end of the year.

Second, in keeping with the contributions of the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and Deputies Costello and Leddin, we are currently reviewing the Derelict Sites Act. In the interim, we will prepare a circular for the local authorities on the interpretation of what a derelict site is. The Deputies will appreciate that I am going around to local authorities and there is certainly a different interpretation in different local authorities. We will try to bring focus so there is a degree of consistency. We want to bring as many buildings and sites as possible under the derelict sites register and we very much want to bring them back into use. We commit to doing that. We are also doing a broader review of the Derelict Sites Act itself, which is very important.

Deputy Andrews raised a number of issues with the CPO process. Although people could say the CPO process is cumbersome, it is working. I am always reluctant to park something to achieve perfection. We have something that is working. I speak to the local authorities and I know they are doing a range of things. However, they are all moving to a space where this is becoming a priority and they are setting up specific vacant homes units. The CPO process is working. I would hate the message to go out that it is unworkable because it is not. To change it would require a long time when we need action now. If Deputy Andrews has issues with particular circumstances regarding local authority housing, he should come to me and I will follow up with Dublin City Council.

Deputy Costello made a specific request that we would put out a circular to give guidance to local authorities specifically on what could be regarded as a derelict site. I commit to doing that.

The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, made reference to, dare I say it, his case study of Dun Laoghaire. That is highly effective and it is something we are doing in Limerick as well. Yes, there is a carrot and a stick. We want to bring derelict sites back into action and, clearly, a manifestation of that is to get more derelict sites on the registrar. If we identify a site and that person will bring it back into use tomorrow, that is the most important thing of all.

Deputy Leddin’s point on embodied carbon makes absolute sense. I want to give clarity on the point about URDF funding and the public realm. Up to now, the calls have been about the public realm. In this specific third call , which we have just announced, Limerick alone is getting €9 million, which is the second-highest funding outside of Dublin. That is about bringing vacant and derelict units back into use. We want the local authorities to lead on this. Limerick council is already doing this and we want it to use CPO powers, if required. In many cases, when the local authorities are using CPO powers, they cleanse the title. Given there may be no known owners of the site still around, those proceeds come straight back into the council and they then have a revolving fund. We are looking at approximately 4,500 properties nationwide. We want the local authorities to go in with existing buildings that they may own but, equally, they can identify other properties that are in a derelict state, purchase them and bring them back in.

We want people to sell those properties on to people who are coming to live in city and town centres. This is not only about bringing buildings back into use, but about bringing people back into centres as well. The next round will be in the public realm. I am a big believer in the idea that we have to get people living in our cities again. Deputy Leddin is interested in that as well.

Limerick Boat Club does great work on the ground. It got a sports capital grant.

I commend Deputy Matthews on introducing this Bill. We have concerns about elements of it, but we are supportive of its broad thrust. We look forward to getting many of these measures under way in line with the Derelict Sites Act. The Deputy raised certain issues, for example, the online component. The large-scale development planning Bill will be published in the early autumn. I look forward to working with the Deputy, not only on the points he raised, but also in his role as Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

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