Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move:

“That Seanad Éireann:

acknowledges that: - 57,206 properties are vacant according to local property tax returns, census estimates are much higher at 166,752, not including 66,135 seasonal holiday homes;

- the compulsory purchase order (CPO) process is cumbersome, expensive and takes too long to have a significant effect on the vacancy and dereliction we see in our towns and villages;

- there are 12,827 people living in emergency accommodation according to the latest figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage;

- many communities face a dearth of shared public and community facilities such as community meeting spaces, creative work/exhibition space, and facilities for young people;

- there is a significant deficit in the number of construction workers available to undertake extensive retrofitting and regeneration projects;

- the delay in assessing home adaptation grants means that some housing can be unnecessarily left vacant when waiting; recognises that: - the State ought to play a core role in the renovation and repurposing of vacant and derelict buildings for housing and community use;

- the renovation, retrofitting and repurposing of vacant sites and buildings requires extensive investment, technical knowledge and significant labour that can only be executed by local authorities;

- local government is under-resourced and under-funded with respect to acquiring new vacant properties and renovating, repurposing or retrofitting existing vacant State- owned properties;

- the Government has implemented a vacant homes tax which has failed to go far enough to disincentivise vacancy; calls for: - reform of the compulsory purchase process to make it easier for local authorities to CPO vacant buildings to bring back into use for either housing or community use;

- a mapping exercise to be carried out to gather a comprehensive picture of all State, semi-State and local authority-owned buildings and sites to identify their current use, if any;

- a dedicated, and simple renewal fund for local authorities for the purpose of bringing back into use vacant and derelict buildings in their local authority area be established;

- each local authority to publish a maximum timeframe for assessing the home adaptation grant;

- the implementation of a timed ‘use it or lose it’ rule on undeveloped sites/or buildings with planning permission, thus tying the development of land within the local authority area with the condition of that development, the punitive action being compulsory purchase of the property by the local authority where the owner has failed to undergo the development of the site within a given time period;

- the inclusion of further construction and conservation skills as qualifying skills for the purpose of obtaining the Critical Skills Employment Permit to supplement the deficit in construction workers and specialists in conservation; and

- a guarantee that construction apprentices are afforded at least the national minimum wage to act as an incentive to undertake a career in construction.”

I will share my time with Senator Sherlock if that is agreeable.