The Government recently announced a €32 million expansion of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, schools programme, bringing in about 310 schools and 60,000 students. I understand, however, that the school meals programme for those DEIS schools is not currently funded and will not be until we pass the budget in October. I ask the Taoiseach to consider how we can fund those schools in the weeks until we pass the budget. He knows how important this schools meals programme is for our students goin…

I wish to hear the Minister of State's views on the introduction of a derelict property tax. Will the Government consider replacing the current derelict sites levy with a derelict property tax to be collected by Revenue? Has the Department done any research on this matter?

I thank the Minister of State. I am glad he referenced the Derelict Sites Act because it needs to be addressed. I have introduced a Private Members' Bill to address the issues involved and I hope it will be considered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is the taxation aspect of it that I am interested in, which is the responsibility of the Department of Finance. I am delighted to see work is in progress but this work needs to be expedited. We have a housing crisis and there is no doubt …

The CPO process is one that local authorities can use as a last resort when there is no movement but the introduction of a tax would serve as a land and building activation measure. Sometimes property owners just need a nudge in the right direction and introducing a tax would serve as a nudge. I am aware that the reasons for vacancy and dereliction are many and nuanced. The Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage produced a report on this issue, to which this morning's Acting Chair, Deputy Higgins…

I commend the committee and the members of it who are in the Chamber on another excellent report. The output from the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action, chaired by Deputy Leddin, is exceptional. We each have ten minutes to talk about transport and planning but we would need hours. In fact, Deputy Leddin and I have spent hours talking about transport planning. We have often ruined a good social occasion for many people by spending hours talking about how we are going to fix the transport problems in …

I want to ask the Minister about the public electric vehicle, EV, charging network. I am aware there is funding for local authorities to install EV charging points and there is a public consultation going on at the moment. However, there seems to be some delay in the roll-out. I am not sure if the difficulty is at local authority level or in trying to get an ESB connection. Most of us would agree that the best place to charge an EV is at home or at the workplace, but we need a public network. Will the Minister outl…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage entitled "Urban Regeneration", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 24th May, 2022. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for sharing his time with me on this very important report. I thank the Oireachtas for granting us the opportunity to debate this report on urban regeneration, which was a collaborative cross-party report by all members of the Oireachtas housing committee. …

I thank all Members for their contributions and, equally, I am grateful for the contribution made by the committee members, which was very collaborative. There was a lot of support for the measures we have recommended. We have heard so much talk about dereliction and vacancy but without the figures, we do not know how much of it exists. The figure ranges from 180,000 down to 90,000 units. We have many people out there gathering data for the census, the CSO and the local authorities. The Heritage Council has brillia…

I wish to talk about trains and public transport, and the electrification of rail services in particular. There have been huge advancements with battery-electric units that have a really good range. In most cases, we will not need to build that extensive overhead network in order to provide a good, urban, electrified rail system. Electric trains have the advantage of being much quicker to accelerate and brake, so you can have a good urban service without the slowdown in service diesels or other heavy rail vehicles …

As somebody who served an apprenticeship many years ago, I know how challenging it can be. Apprenticeships are technically challenging and, after one qualifies, some of the work can be physically challenging as well. However, there is no doubt that an apprenticeship is a very good educational opportunity that provides very transferable skills. Apprentices who have done four years of training are highly valued in a job, whereas someone who graduates from third level after four years still has to go through a signifi…

I recently met the Irish Wheelchair Association to discuss housing, universal design, Part M and wheelchair-liveable accommodation. Do housing need and demand assessments carried out by local authorities take account of the number of wheelchair-liveable properties that should be included? Liveable is a slightly higher design than just accessible. I want to know whether those numbers are taken into account.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for identification, management, restoration and bringing back to use of derelict buildings and to simplify and expedite applications to refurbish or change the use of upper floors or ‘over the shop’ for residential use by establishing in each local authority a special planning and building control approval system to be called a Town Centre First application process. This is the first Private Member's Bill I have produced and introduced in …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, for delivering this action plan. I know an incredible amount of work went into it. I am delighted to see the work that has been done on heritage, including natural heritage, and the move by the NPWS back to Custom House. Today shows the wisdom of that move, which was decided upon when the Government was being formed. I want to put on record the huge credit that is due to the Minister of…

I am trying to clear up some confusion and doubt about the Wicklow Town Citizens Information Centre, a very much appreciated source of information and assistance to local residents not just in Wicklow town, but in the area around it. The centre operated very successfully up until April 2020. There was an issue around the building that the centre was operating out of, and it was closed down. I understand that there was an assumption or some reassurance given that another premises would be sourced for the service. It…

An outreach office is obviously better than nothing but Wicklow town is the county town with a growing population. It is designated under the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy as a key growth town in planning. The towns where we are planning to grow populations in County Wicklow are Bray and Wicklow town. The removal of this service and the suggestion that the service may look for an office to provide an outreach service is not good enough for the residents in Wicklow town. The Minister of State's response doe…

I ask the Minister about the Croí Cónaithe fund. We know there is currently huge attention being paid to dereliction and vacancy. We know the benefits of bringing derelict and vacant housing back into housing stock, not just for residential use but because we know about the embodied carbon in vacant and derelict housing. It makes perfect economic and environmental sense to do so. I ask the Minister to update us on the Croí Cónaithe funding and how it will assist with bringing derelict properties back into use.

I thank the Minister of State and welcome the fact that Croí Cónaithe will be launched shortly. I also recognise that Housing for All is an extensive and significant housing policy document that encompasses a massive range of housing, including social, affordable and private. That needs to be acknowledged, as well as the fact that success is being delivered within that. A committee recently carried out an extensive series of meetings on dereliction, vacancy and regeneration, and how we can bring building stock back…

Many people have come to me on this issue because they know the Green Party holds strong policies in respect of urban and rural village regeneration and all the benefits that brings - economic, social, environmental and climate. I am glad the Minister stated the fund will be launched shortly. I look forward to the detail on that. I have brought forward a Bill that considers how we can streamline the regulation process as well. That is very much part of it. It is good that the Government recognises that and has comm…

Yesterday at a meeting of the transport committee, representatives of the National Transport Authority were present to discuss the greater Dublin area transport strategy. The importance of road-space allocation arose time and again regarding public transport punctuality, ensuring children have safe routes on which to walk or cycle to school, and the creation of good public spaces. What steps are we taking to support local authorities to provide more road space to ensure we address all our active-transport objective…