John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I am grateful for the opportunity to take on behalf of the Government Second Stage of the Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill, which has been tabled by Senator Malcolm Noonan. This is an area I am exceptionally passionate about. I have done extensive work on the issue of vacancy and dereliction in my county of Waterford, and I have seen many of the measures implemented by the Government put to very good use there.

I can confirm the Government has agreed to a timed amendment for the reading of the Bill, having regard to the well-intentioned spirit in which it has been introduced and the underlying objectives it is intended to achieve. We also note the matters raised in the Bill relate to ongoing measures and actions the Government is progressing, and that certain elements of the Bill raise concerns, which will I set out towards the end of my contribution. As a result, the Government believes it is appropriate to defer the Bill for 12 months. It is important to state this certainly does not mean we will postpone action for 12 months. That is absolutely not the case.

The Private Members' Bill proposes to provide for the identification, management, restoration and bringing back into use derelict and vacant buildings and to simplify and expedite the planning and building control approval processes in this regard. As Senators are no doubt aware, the Government already has a comprehensive package of measures in place to address vacancy and dereliction, including a town centre first policy approach, which aims to combat vacancy and dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. We also have targeted investment underpinned by substantial funding from a number of funding streams, including the rural regeneration and development fund and a €150 million fund from the urban regeneration and development fund, which has been made available to local authorities to acquire vacant and derelict properties and sites for reuse or sale. It is certainly one of the areas on which I engage with local authorities when I go throughout the country to ensure they are drawing on the fund which has been provided by the Government.

We also have a new CPO activation programme, which was launched in April 2023. This programme provides for a proactive, planned and systemic approach to addressing vacancy and dereliction by local authorities and provides guidance and support for local authorities to actively use their legislative powers to compulsorily acquire vacant and derelict properties where engagement with owners has been unsuccessful.

A number of Senators mentioned the very successful vacant property refurbishment grant scheme which was introduced by the Government. It provides up to €50,000 towards the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as principal private residences and up to €70,000 for the refurbishment of derelict properties for this purpose. It is important to state that while there have been 8,000 approvals, drawdown was mentioned by some Senators. The way the scheme is structured, the payment of the grant is on completion of the project. As the 13 months roll on, there will be even more drawdown of the grant. I acknowledge some of the calls that have been made with regard to phased payments.

We also have the repair and lease scheme, which provides up to €80,000 per unit of the upfront cost of bringing vacant units back into productive use for social housing. This is clawed back as an offset against the rent over the course of the lease term. This has been used to a great extent in Waterford. A total of 50% of all repair and lease units in the State are in Waterford. If it is able to be done by Waterford City and County Council, there is absolutely no reason it cannot be replicated by every local authority in the country. This is something about which I am speaking to local authorities.

We have also had the introduction of the extension to the end of this year of planning regulations exempting certain vacant commercial premises, including vacant spaces over shops, from the requirement to obtain planning permission for a change of use to residential accommodation. To date, this has resulted in the notification of almost 3,500 housing units being brought back into use. To supplement the change of use for exempted development regulations, which I have just mentioned, in 2024, the Department published an update to the Bringing Back Homes manual. This provides property owners, members of the public, local authorities and those involved in the construction industry with clear and practical guidance on the refurbishment of existing buildings for residential use and how current regulatory requirements that apply to common existing building types can be met.

From a regulatory perspective, the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2018 provide clarity on the application of disability access certificates to works on existing buildings being brought back into use. The Building Regulations (Part B Amendment) Regulations 2024 and Technical Guidance Document B 2024 support the reuse of existing buildings by simplifying, clarifying and rationalising fire safety requirements.

Town regeneration officers and vacant homes officers are in place throughout local government, working with the wider local authority teams to address vacancy and dereliction issues and increase the use of legislative mechanisms. These include the Derelict Sites Act, in conjunction with the town centre first policy, as well as a number of other measures, including the town centre first heritage revival scheme, THRIVE, which is a co-funded scheme through the ERDF. This is regenerating important heritage buildings nationally, which I know Senator Noonan is also passionate about. I am confident these measures introduced under the Housing for All plan will have the desired effect of addressing vacancy and dereliction and making more efficient use of our existing housing stock.

Notwithstanding the progress that has been made on resourcing, policy and funding support, there is a need to make legislative amendments to update the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to improve its use as a tool in tackling dereliction, consistent with Government policy objectives on regeneration and increasing housing supply in urban areas. In this regard, it is now proposed to re-engage with the local government sector and other key stakeholders in connection with the review of the Act.The proposals set out in the proposed legislation and in the Oireachtas joint committee report on urban regeneration will be taken into account as part of this review. The Government has committed in the programme for Government to a new national housing plan to follow Housing for All. While this work is being undertaken, the measures detailed in Housing for All continue to be progressed. A suite of measures to deal with vacancy and dereliction will, of course, be an essential part of any successor plan. While the underlying objectives of the Bill are aimed at expediting the process for bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into use for residential purposes and thereby assisting in increasing housing supply and facilitating urban regeneration - which, of course, is in line with the objectives of the Government's housing policy contained in Housing for All, in addition to the objectives of the national planning framework - I must record some significant concerns in relation to how these objectives are to be achieved under this Bill. The proposals to dispense with certain requirements of the building control regulations are a key concern. The proposed exemption from obtaining a fire safety certificate, which is an important process to protect the health and safety of people in and around buildings, and the proposal to circumvent certification of the design and construction of building work by a registered construction professional and competent builder could be problematic in ensuring that development works are properly inspected and monitored to ensure compliance with building regulations. Arguably, these proposals would weaken the reforms put in place since 2014 for the control of building activity in response to widespread failures that had occurred.

In addition to building control, a number of concerns also arise in respect of the planning-related proposals in the Bill. First, it proposes several new planning exemptions. I note in the first instance that the planning and development regulations already provide for several exemptions from the need to obtain planning permissions relevant to tackling vacancy and dereliction. These include since 2018 an exemption for the change of use of certain vacant commercial buildings, including vacant above-the-ground-floor premises, to residential - such as above-the-shop living - subject to conditions and limitations. Derelict homes may also avail of exemptions from an extension of the property to the rear, the conversion of an existing garage or shed, the creation of a porch and external maintenance and improvement works to the building. The existing exempted development regulation provisions in the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the associated regulations will remain in place until the relevant provisions of the new Planning and Development Act 2024 are commenced later this year. Once the sections of the 2024 Act are commenced, they will be accompanied by new regulations that will replace the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended. My Department is in the process of preparing updated regulations, including in relation to exempted development provisions. The proposed amendments can be considered as part of this current preparatory work ongoing in the Department. It is intended to launch a public consultation on exempted development regulations next month and, accordingly, it would be premature to progress proposals for exempted development provisions at this stage.

Second, the introduction of what is termed "a Town Centre First application process" for the change of use of all non-residential buildings would amount to a new alternative consenting process operating in lieu of the normal planning application determination and building control processes. While the details of how this new application process would operate are largely unspecified, it would likely have significant resourcing implications for local planning authorities, which would, in effect, have to manage two separate and independent application processes. Additionally, the proposed planning exemptions process set out in the Bill would involve an assessment of applications by a new town centre first panel under this separate process, including an assessment of relevant development plan and local area plan objectives pertaining. Such an arrangement would result in significant legal risk, noting that such a panel does not have the powers conferred on a planning authority under the Planning and Development Act 2000 to determine planning applications and there are no provisions for public participation or potential environmental assessments as part of the assessment process by the panel as proposed.

To conclude, this Private Members' Bill has certain deficiencies as I have outlined. As I mentioned, my Department is already doing significant work in this area and I am anxious to continue with the existing initiatives that seek to tackle vacancy and dereliction. Therefore, I believe a timed amendment is appropriate in this instance. I do not, however, doubt the sincerity or the intention with which the Bill has been introduced. We all agree on the need to tackle vacancy and dereliction. By working in tandem with each other, as Opposition and Government, I think we can really bring attention to this issue and address it once and for all. I agree that seeing vacant and derelict premises across this country at a time of such housing need is something that must change.