Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I completely agree with what the Minister said. As she well knows, vibrant communities have people living in the middle of them. Especially in northern Fingal, the success of the national broadband project has meant that more and more people have the capacity to work from home, particularly in a post-Covid environment. Any public representative knows there are just as many people at home in the middle of the afternoon as in the evenings when we would have traditionally canvassed. That is because of the roll-out of broadband and the increasing number of people moving to our rural communities. A key and important aspect of the success of a community is turning vacancy into homes and other community facilities, whether retail or other. I commend the Minister and her Department on the work being done. My only comment is, like the Minister, there are certain properties when you drive or walk by them you ask why they are still vacant, because these grants have been around for a while. I commend the Minister's Department and the Department of housing on the work it does with local authorities. I am just looking for more.

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