John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this. It gives me the opportunity to address Members on this important issue. Addressing vacancy and making efficient use of existing housing stock is a key priority of mine and this Government. To address this, a number of structures have been established, including a dedicated vacant homes unit in my Department, a full-time vacant homes officer in each local authority, and the publication of a vacant homes action plan to draw together a number of vacancy-related measures across relevant Government Departments. In March this year, the Minister, Deputy Browne, published the 2025 progress report which shows the significant progress being made in tackling vacancy and it is available on my Department's website.

A key focus in the action plan relates to the interaction with the Government’s town centre first policy approach, which was launched by my Department and the then Department of Rural and Community Development in 2022. It provides a whole-of-government policy framework to address the decline in the health of towns and supports measures to revitalise them. To drive the delivery of town centre first, dedicated town regeneration officers have been established within local authorities, supported by the national town centre first office in the Local Government Management Agency.

In addition, where local authorities find that the acquisition of particular derelict properties is an appropriate mechanism to return them to use, they are now supported through the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, which has established a €150 million revolving fund for local authorities to acquire vacant and derelict properties, be they residential or commercial, using their compulsory purchase powers where necessary, and to carry out any associated works needed to make them more attractive for reuse or sale. On completion of the most recent review of this element of the URDF programme, a total of 1,297 residential and commercial properties were approved by my Department for inclusion on the approved programmes list for all 31 local authorities.

In my role as Minister of State with responsibility for local government, I am visiting local authorities across the country, and this is one of the areas in which I am engaged extensively with executive teams and chief executives.

As Deputy Brennan rightly pointed out in his opening remarks, it is true to say some local authorities are doing really well while others have a long way to go, and that is why I am engaging with them on it. Where I have seen exceptional work done is with small, dedicated and focused teams under one directorate within a local authority that is putting an enhanced focus on this area by using the carrot and stick approach - the carrot being the likes of the repair and lease scheme and the stick being the derelict sites register and the CPO. That has yielded positive results in areas where it has been deployed. We, of course, need that consistency of approach across all local authorities in the country and that is what I am focused on as Minister of State.

My Department also introduced planning and development regulations that provide an exemption from the need to obtain planning permission for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings to residential units, including former pubs and above the shop living, as the Deputy referenced. The most recent authority returns from 2023 show that local authorities have received notifications of 1,065 exempted development proposals to date, with plans for the provision of 2,716 new homes nationwide. I will talk about the vacant property refurbishment grant in my follow up remarks.

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