Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be able to speak on and welcome the Housing for All policy. I have to pick up on one point from the start of the debate. There was a mention of a lost decade in housing. I do not want to go over a history lesson on the decade previous to that, for two reasons, in that it is a long time ago and we are in government together now, but if the Minister responds, can he acknowledge the work the former Ministers, Eoghan Murphy and Deputy Coveney, did in reaching the targets they set themselves at a very difficult time? It is important to acknowledge that, but I recognise the drive and the passion the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has in delivering this plan. That is key. I would like to talk about many aspects of this, but I will only address two matters in the short time available. One is a suggestion and the other is a worry. I refer to vacant homes. We must do something to support people who have owned vacant homes for a long time to do them up and to sell them. Possibly, we should give an incentive to sell such houses to first-time buyers, a little bit like we do with the help-to-buy scheme. There are more than 30 vacant homes along the main street in Clonmel. They have been vacant for a long time. Nothing is being done about that situation. It is the same in a very small village in north Tipperary, Templetuohy, which has 14 vacant homes. That is in a tiny village and those homes have been like that for a long time. We could undertake simple initiatives. I spoke to people who own these buildings and they want to do them up. They are waiting, however, for an incentive from the Government to do it. They are asking me if there is anything that can be done to help them and if there is anything that they can get to help them to start doing up those properties. That is a priority.

The worry I have, and I have spoken about this before and the Minister will be aware of it, concerns Irish Water. This matter was also raised by Senator Malcolm Byrne. Many developments across the country have been approved for planning permission, subject to having a connection to Irish Water. Approximately 2,000 houses in Midleton have been waiting for years for a connection to Irish Water. The company will not connect them until 2026. That is going to happen in every rural county over the next year. We must tackle this problem. I disagree with Senator Malcolm Byrne in respect of needing to provide more funding for Irish Water. I question some of the spending now being undertaken by the company and its uses. Irish Water must be reined in concerning how it is spending its money. A serious issue exists with water connections and water supply in respect of meeting the demands that we have set ourselves in the Housing for All strategy. We must focus on this aspect a great deal more.