Malcolm Noonan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and wish him all the best in what is no doubt the most difficult portfolio in government. Having served as a Minister of State in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I saw and was part of the immense effort by the previous Government to try to address this problem. It is an intergenerational problem, as other Senators have said. I will focus on two things: vacancy and dereliction; and Uisce Éireann. Senator P. J. Murphy raised this as well. According to census 2022, there were 163,433 vacant properties, excluding holiday homes, on census night in that year. Approximately 30% of the vacant properties numerated in 2022 were also vacant in 2016. Nearly half of them - 23,000 - were also vacant on census night in 2011 so there is a pervasive vacancy problem. During the term of the last Government, we attempted to address the issue through the croí cónaithe grants and the vacancy grants. These efforts need to be ramped up significantly. We need to look at the potential of tens of thousands of pre-1919 houses, dwellings and above-shop premises - this is a UNESCO definition - in rural towns and villages and in larger cities across the country. Here in Dublin, there are above-shop premises and Georgian townhouses which are completely unoccupied. I see it in my home city of Kilkenny. I spoke to a surveyor last week who said that the vast majority of above-shop premises are empty. There is huge potential here.

One thing we looked at from the heritage side was putting in place conservation advice - the €5,000 grant - and having architectural conservation officers in every local authority which is really important. We need to see this not as a heritage issue but as a housing solution. It keeps our towns compact and vibrant, prevents urban sprawl and leads to the activation of professional conservation services across the country. It is heritage-led regeneration in action. We need to put it front and centre of our housing challenges.

On the Uisce Éireann issue, I listened to what Jerry Grant had to say on the desperate state of our water and waste water infrastructure. We need to significantly ramp up investment in water and waste water. We have heard about the challenges in rural Ireland. I do not think the crazy Shannon pipeline project will see the light of day for ten years, in reality, if we look at the planning system. As well as reconsidering the project, we should look at Dublin supply and conservation measures and at ways of reducing demand. That, on top of much more stringent targets and parameters for waste water treatment under the recast waste water treatment directive, will present us with even further challenges as treatment plants are being commenced or commissioned now and in light of what will be demanded at European level in the next couple of years. I do not envy the Minister’s task but everyone here is united in trying together to finding solutions. This is an immense challenge.