2026-02-11

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue on a very important matter. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, but I am very disappointed there is no Minister or Minister of State from the Department of housing present. There is a housing crisis and we have a proposal to knock 52 almost-complete houses in Cashel, County Tipperary. Tipperary County Council plans to demolish 52 partially-completed houses under Part 8 development. The decision defies logic in the middle of a national housing emergency. These units are not mere shells. They were all finished. Many of the windows and doors have been vandalised, through no fault of the developer. I compliment the developer on such fine, sturdy mass concrete houses. They have mass concrete foundations, mass concrete lintels down on piles on a very solid site overlooking Cashel. They have mass concrete floors, mass concrete walls, mass concrete first ceilings and mass concrete ceilings on top as well. These are the kinds of houses we are dealing with. All the roofs bar one are perfect. One roof is slightly damaged, either through vandalism or by the weather. The units are, as I said, not mere shells as many have windows, doors, plumbing and electrics. Independent assessments describe them as solid structures that are far from derelict. Importantly, a number of developers have expressed interest in redeveloping the site. However, instead of exploring refurbishment Tipperary County Council seeks to demolish them entirely. We have 3,600 families or persons on the approved housing list in the county and here there is 1,800 sq. m of housing - 52 fine and spacious three-bedroom houses which the council seeks to knock down. They could be luxury houses. When there is huge housing demand across the county it is indefensible that viable housing stock is to be destroyed rather than repurposed for private, social, affordable or indeed health accommodation. Even more concerning is the lack of transparency about the costs. An independent quantity surveyor's report estimates a cost of €8 million for the demolition and remediation, yet the council has continually refused to release full costs to my office via freedom of information requests. The public and elected representatives are being asked to accept a multimillion euro demolition without access to the basic financial information needed to evaluate the site. Furthermore, they have been ordered not to visit the site. They were told they could be trespassing, which is not true according to the man who owns the site. The council states the buildings were originally intended as tourist accommodation and that the site is unzoned and outside the settlement boundary. However, that has all changed. We are 20 years on and we are in an emergency. National housing policy demands flexibility and reuse, not rigid adherence to outdated classifications. When thousands of people need homes we need to think outside the box. These houses were granted full planning permission in a decision that was upheld in the courts over a long number of years, but now the same council that granted permission seeks to demolish them. Environmental policy is equally contradicted. Demolishing 52 concrete structures will create 13,582 tonnes of waste and this runs against Government commitments on sustainability and waste reduction. It flies in the face of the principles of low-carbon and climate-resilient development. The phrase, "The greenest building is the one that is already built", acknowledges that. This embraces the embedded carbon in these buildings and the enormous energy used to construct them. I have more to say but I will do so in my reply.

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.

There is no rationale. That is why the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, is not here to take my Topical Issue. I handed a file to the Minister six to eight weeks ago in this regard. First, I thank Liam Campion, his wife and family. They are builders and providers who are building apartments - six-storey blocks - in this city today, as well as in Cork city. They have been building for nearly 50 years. They built what is known as the Twin Towers estate in Cashel, which is a fine, noble housing estate. These houses are not semi-derelict. I wanted to ask the Minister – I thought I would meet him today but I will meet him later – or the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to visit these houses. The site is located five minutes off the main N8. These houses are suitable for any type of building. They are solid structures. They are the best I have seen in a long time, and I have some experience in the game. They have mass concrete walls, ducting for all the wires, plumbing and everything else. Some 50 submissions have gone in under the Part 8 but the Part 8 has been turned on its head because when I visited the site last Monday with the owner, we met people there who were from a demolition company. When asked why they were there, they explained they were there as a result of an etender that was out two weeks before the Part 8 process closed. The tender was put out by Tipperary County Council. There is an indecent haste to demolish these houses. The council is ahead of its targets and while I support the council staff, I do not support senior management and what they are doing here. I attended a meeting with the CEO some time ago but I was told at the meeting she was unable to attend. I could not get answers from any of the directors. There are a lot of unanswered questions in this regard. The Minister of State told me that these houses were built with planning. They were built with full planning, alongside planning for a 120-bed hotel. Many estates around the country were built likewise, with both hotels and accommodation. Many have been transformed and turned into accommodation. Anything could be done with them, from social housing, which we so badly need, to a health facility. We need a 60-bed health facility in Cashel. The Minister of State knows that. We cannot get a site for it, however. This is an ideal site. A site at Palmershill is being looked at but it is much more inaccessible. This site, however, has a roadway and all developed into it. The site and the houses are as solid as the Rock of Cashel. It is a crying shame and an insanity to demolish these houses and dispose of all this. It will cause that carbon footprint and leave the site scarred because the foundations and the base will not be removed. It is said that this is being done for the Rock of Cashel. Is a view more important than houses for families in Ireland? It seems that with this Government, the views and anything are more important. This is insanity. The definition of insanity, according to Einstein, is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results. Please halt this. Pause this demolition and re-evaluate it.

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.