Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I broadly agree with the points many Senators made. This is a well designed and targeted scheme. It is focused on a particular form of property and a particular form of investment in that property in very targeted parts of our cities. While I welcome the fact that many Senators said they feel it is working well, I believe it can work better.

We have tried to recognise two particular changes to the scheme have been well received by those were involved in it. The first is the extension for a further five years, which is a very long extension for a scheme such as this. People with whom I engaged, who were good and ambitious for particular cities across our country and want to renovate their urban cores of them, made the point that extensions of one to two years just do not give them enough confidence regarding the kinds of investment in projects needed to renovate buildings that need very careful and well designed work. The renovation that is involved in these kind of properties, as the Senators will know, is difficult, demanding and costly. That is why we believe that an extension of five years was warranted in this particular case.

The decision to make the relief available over a seven-year period as opposed to a ten-year period, again, is all about trying to provide additional incentives for renovating urban cores, which will I hope make our cities not only more beautiful but also more lived in. The changes I made were about trying to make this a more successful scheme in the time ahead. The length of the extension, and shortening the period over which the relief could be claimed, are about trying to respond to legitimate observations made regarding the operation of the scheme.We will continue - I think it was Senator Maria Byrne, in particular, who made this point - to monitor each year how many properties are availing of the scheme and then what the cost of it is or what the investment being triggered by use of the scheme is. While I think that it has had a positive effect on some parts of some of our cities, I hope that it will do more in the time ahead.