I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am glad to have the opportunity on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, to clarify the position regarding the demolition of these partially completed houses at Ballypadeen, Cashel in Tipperary. The Minister sends his apologies. He will be in the House for five hours for the debate on the residential tenancies Bill and cannot attend this morning. Working to end dereliction and vacancy is a key priority in the Government's new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. The programme for Government and the housing plan contain a range of measures to address dereliction. However, the reality is that some unfinished units cannot be saved and require demolition. In respect of the property referenced above, neither the derelict units in question nor the site they were built on are owned by Tipperary County Council. The units were constructed over 20 years ago as tourism accommodation ancillary to a permitted hotel. They were not designed, permitted or ever intended for permanent residential use and they have remained incomplete for almost 20 years. The land in question is unzoned, poorly serviced and located outside the settlement boundary of Cashel. Were it deemed suitable for long-term social housing development, the local authority may have considered a compulsory purchase order, CPO. However, there is no viable option to adapt the existing structures for residential use. The extent of work required to meet modern residential standards would be prohibitive and likely necessitate full demolition and reconstruction. I understand the council is currently progressing a Part 8 planning application to remove the derelict structures as part of the agreed remediation approach. The future development of the land after that remediation is complete rests entirely with the owners. Any proposals will be subject to the county development plan and the statutory planning process. Tipperary County Council’s social housing delivery under Housing for All was ahead of target and it is expected to continue its strong record of delivery under the housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. I firmly believe the commitment Government has made to address vacancy and dereliction and the actions under Delivering Homes, Building Communities will play a vital role in delivering homes across the country. Notwithstanding that, effective use of Exchequer funding is essential and only viable projects should proceed. It is unfortunate, as the Deputy has raised, that some incomplete developments need to be demolished but, in this case, demolition of these unfinished units is necessary given they are in private ownership and not suitable for long-term residential use. I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this important issue and I hope this goes some way to explaining the rationale behind this decision.

Sentiment score: 0.16

I thank Deputy McGrath for his useful information. I will bring it back to the Minister. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is focused on ensuring that existing houses are utilised to their full extent. The Government’s new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, reinforces and expands the range of measures being implemented by the Government to work to end dereliction and long-term vacancy. One of these actions involves an expanded buy and renew scheme, which is due to launch imminently. The Minister, Deputy Browne, updated the Government on Tuesday about the scheme. It will allow for suitable vacant and derelict buildings to be remediated back to rental standards and designated as social homes. The scheme will be open to local authorities, approved housing bodies and small builders or contractors. Further information will be available in the coming weeks. It will be a matter for all local authorities, including Tipperary County Council, to identify viable proposals. The Government does not intend to override these important local functions. As I said, it is unfortunate that some incomplete developments need to be demolished but in the case of this particular development in Tipperary, demolition of these unfinished units is deemed necessary by the local authority given they are in private ownership and not suitable for long-term residential use. The Deputy outlined that a lot of houses and apartments were built as part of hotel developments around the country. A lot of them are not in use. Anything that we and the local authorities can do to bring them back into use is useful and helpful. However, on this occasion, there are issues for the local authority, obviously. It has not been able to address this issue. I thank Deputy McGrath again for bringing this to the attention of the Dáil. I will raise it with the Minister when I see him later.

Sentiment score: 0.17