Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I refer to two unfortunate examples - the ancestral home of the Duke of Wellington in County Meath and the home of Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery – Monty – in Moville, County Donegal. They have gone to rack and ruin. Perhaps in the case of the Duke of Wellington’s house it is too far gone, but a house such as Montgomery’s could be turned into a major tourist attraction. Perhaps we need to think about houses that are in need of restoration and not located just in cities. We need to think about breathing life into our cities in a wider sense and certainly into Dublin. I have called previously for planners to realise Dublin needs to convert some retail or vacant property into housing, a matter on which Senator David Norris touched. That is an important element of what should happen. The Government should remove red tape and ease planning regulations in order that vacant or under-used buildings could be used to address the housing shortage. The council should also consider the reintroduction of the living over the shop scheme to increase the residential use of city centre streets.

I was pleased to read that last week the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers, IPAV, had stated tax relief could and should be used to convert non-viable commercial buildings into livable ones. The incoming president of IPAV, Mr. Eamon O’Flaherty, said thousands of old grocery stores, butchers', bakers' and other small outlets that had become vacant since the crash might never be used as shops again. He also said such a move would have multiple knock-on effects on the local economy and communities. He further said, “The first to see the lift would be local tradesmen and women, next would be retail outlets and then the schools.” In other words, we could bring life back into the cities by getting people to live there. We should look at this issue.

In countries such as France apartments are located above and around shops in town and city centres and there is life in town centres throughout the day and night. Here, we allow developers to plonk apartment blocks in out of the way locations, with very few or no amenities close to them. We need more footfall in town centres and to have people living above shops. That would change the position to a considerable extent. The fact is that if more professional people lived in towns, they would spend their money there and keep the local economy alive. That should be a fundamental of planning in order that Dublin and other cities would become even more vibrant in the future.

In talking about breathing life into cities we need to think about the role retailers play. The Government should set the conditions in order that Dublin would be home to small, vibrant and original retailers. I was in Dún Laoghaire recently, in the Glasthule area. It is a joy to walk through the area because none of the shops is a chain store. There are all individual shops and there are no vacant shops. They bring life to the place. As Senator David Norris said, one then drives into Dún Laoghaire town centre where the main street, George’s Street, is dead. We can do something about this. We could put life into it, but we must do something. The Government should set the conditions in order that Dublin would be home to small, vibrant and original retailers. When walking around Belfast or Derry, one could be walking around Leeds or Manchester, given that they have been flooded with the same all-conquering UK retailers. Dublin should do everything to avoid becoming a cardboard cut-out of high streets in the United Kingdom. In order to do this, there should be some incentives for very small retailers to set up shops in Dublin. I was in Vienna recently and while walking around the streets there I was amazed to see tiny restaurants seating ten people, speciality record shops and a shop window displaying handmade furniture. It reminded me of Glasthule. The Austrians set the rent at a low fixed rate to allow small and unique businesses to survive. If they paid normal rates, they would not be viable. In Paris everyarrondissementor district has its own shopping streets on which one can find an amazing selection of butchers, bakers and fishmongers.If Dublin was able to foster such a diversity of shops it would attract many more people into the city.

Customers are very attracted by aspirational shopping and we need speciality retailers to fill this gap in the market. Centuries ago, Dublin had a mixture of shops, craftsmen and merchants and we could get back to that concept. The Government should provide a tax rebate to SMEs in this area if they have profits of less than €20,000 per year. If NAMA has properties which have been vacant for over a year these small businesses could avail of these, rent-free, for a certain period to see if their businesses were viable. I believe incentivising small, speciality shops with schemes like the Living City Initiative would be a great way of attracting more life into Dublin and avoid this life being transferred somewhere else. This is not a debate to cause a difference of opinion but is intended to move people and to get people thinking. I think Senator Norris will achieve a great deal and I rely on the Minister to respond appropriately.