Urban Development
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Barry Heneghan (IND), Dublin Bay North

I refer to the hundreds of vacant spaces over shops in Dublin, the capital city in which I grew up. I welcome the above-the-shop grant but could we re-examine it in terms of microcompanies or SMEs availing of that grant? It can be difficult for them to avail of the above-the-shop grant. The jump between what can be given for the first, the second and the third floors is not acceptable. If we are trying to bring people into the city for passive surveillance and into a liveable city, we need to examine making it easier for people to convert vacant above-the-shop spaces, especially if they are going to do three floors at the same time. It makes more sense. The builder is already there. It is something that should be re-examined.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15