Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Exactly, it is waiting for the fire. It is not funny; it is scandalous and completely unacceptable. In this context I supportthe motion.

Where I take more hope is what we have witnessed in the past 12 months. I argued very hard in my party for the Croí Cónaithe grants to be available for derelict properties. They have been a spectacular success. More than 5,000 applications have been made already. They give people an opportunity to take vacant and derelict properties and return them to being real habitable homes. The grants are transforming communities throughout the country. They are taking properties that are already connected to water and sewerage systems and making them homes again.

I commend the Government on the vacant property tax. This is also something on which I pushed very hard. We were told it could not be done. We were told it would not work. The opening lines of the motion are about the various numbers. We have wasted so much time at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage speaking about whether the number of vacant properties is 50,000 or 166,000. It does not matter; whatever the number is it is too many. What the vacant property tax is doing is creating for the first time an actual database that is verifiable. We can quantify properly for the first time the level of vacancy and unoccupancy, and we can be reasonable about the properties that are vacant for only a short period of time. Not only was the vacant property tax introduced but in the budget it was increased to five times the original amount. We should not be looking to penalise people. We should be looking to empower people to put their properties into productive use and give them an opportunity to make a contribution.

All vacant properties are unique with their own history and story. Some of them have mini-sagas. There can be family disputes or inheritance disputes. There can be all manner of issues. There can be mental illness involved. I have come across many different scenarios. We need to encourage, support and guide. The provision by the Government of vacant housing officers in all 31 local authorities means somebody in each local authority is on the ground and knows what is going on in the community. That person is familiar with the properties and can support local authority members and the general public. Grants and funding have been given to local authorities so they can be easily accessed. The application process is simple so the funds can be drawn down and the houses returned to use. All of these measures are welcome, positive and constructive and they are addressing vacancy and dereliction. More than 5,000 properties have already applied for the funding and will be accessing it. The target is to be doubled for the next year.

The motion calls for funding for public buildings, community centres and other public spaces. The urban regeneration fund of €1.5 billion will go towards restoring the fruit and vegetable market in St Mary's Lane. It will go to Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square. It will go to the public domain on Mountjoy Square. Urban regeneration funding is funding for local authorities.

I agree with Senator Moynihan that our local authorities need to be more ambitious. They need to put more energy behind it. They need to stop stepping back, using excuses and shying away from what is an enormous opportunity for each local authority to actively and positively regenerate their areas of responsibility.