Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister of State and compliment her on what she said. I also compliment my two colleagues, Senators Landy and Whelan. This subject has been close to my heart for years and I agree with everything they and many other Senators said on the matter. I acknowledge the good work Senator Mary Ann O'Brien has done on this subject in the past.

It is good to know that Members on both sides of the House are all agreed on this. However, the shocking situation, as outlined by Senator Landy, is that we have seen the demise of many town centres throughout the country. Senator Landy referred to Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel and Cahir, Senator Whelan spoke about Portlaoise, Mountmellick and Durrow, while Senator Harte talked about Letterkenny and other towns. Regardless of the county, town centres were hit very badly everywhere. I will not talk about my own county, but Kerry was equally badly hit.

Senator White praised the large multiples and recognised that they might have done some good. I would not dare to do that. Senator Landy spoke about the 47,000 jobs that have been lost in small businesses in town centres throughout the country since the recession started. There is no way that the multiples, in the number they employ, made up for the 47,000 jobs that were lost. The vitality and vibrancy of town centres are a core part of policy, but it is a pity it was not there when county managers and officials were riding roughshod over towns and allowed the construction of out-of-town centres. They contributed in many instances to the demolition of town centres. Some councillors, perhaps in all the parties but principally in the party opposite, were often bullies in the way they got in league with managers to allow a developer to do whatever he wished. Some of those developers would have been better off if they had been curbed, because they are in the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, today. They have wreaked havoc on town centres all over the country.

I welcome the free car parking initiative introduced by some authorities in some large towns. However, we must provide a level playing pitch in respect of in-town and out-of-town parking. I do not have the answer and I realise the matter is being considered in the Department. The Minister spoke about the loss to some local authorities in town centres, but perhaps they could impose a charge for the damage that grinding wheels delivering to these out-of-town centres do to the roads in and out of them. Some mechanism must be found to level that playing pitch.

Senator Landy also mentioned the urban renewal scheme. The last one, in fairness, did some good. It dealt with urban degeneration in the hearts of towns. Okay, it involved tax breaks and so forth but it was taken up and there are some lovely places. Sadly, however, many of the shop units that were developed in the town centres are vacant today. Perhaps it is time to consider a new type of scheme. As Senator Landy said, it need not be all about tax relief, although it might be impossible to have one without some type of tax break. Perhaps there could be a rates moratorium for new businesses in small towns, as mentioned by Senator Landy, or rates could be linked to turnover and profitability. I agree with him that where town councils have the cash they can make improvements before they are, and if they are, absorbed into county councils. Personally, I had hoped that the councils of towns with populations above 10,000 would survive. Initially, I believed that would happen, but it has evolved since then. Anyway, we have not yet seen that legislation so we will await it.

CCTV in town centres has been good and we need more of it. I am on a policing board in my home town and we could do with more such initiatives to curb some of the things that happen late at night at weekends, unfortunately. I welcome what Senator Landy has proposed with regard to a national task force for town centres. The Minister is prepared to consider that further within the Department.

I do not wish to labour the point but we must continue to monitor this issue. Hopefully, we and the Minister can do more about it. However, I very much welcome the fact that national policy now has regard primarily to the vitality and vibrancy of town centres. If managers, officials and councillors had that in mind in the past, many of our towns would not now be in the current sad mess.