An issue raised in my clinic during the week causes great concern. A man in his late 70s left Carlow 50 years ago to work in England. He has come home every year since to visit his family and friends, but this is the first time in 50 years that two of the main banks have refused to change sterling for him. He went to the main post office, but it also refused to accept sterling. He was very upset. This is unacceptable and I want the matter to be addressed by the Minister for Finance. At least, the man in question has some family and friends who have been able to give him money. Long term, however, we do not want that message to get back. We depend a great deal on visitors from England and the rest of the United Kingdom. Look at the tourism revenue they give us. What has happened is unacceptable and the man in question was very upset. While it is the only case I know of, it is not good and I want the issue to be addressed immediately.

I refer to the new repair and lease scheme announced as part of the Government's housing package. The scheme has great potential to increase the social housing stock by bringing back into use empty and substandard privately-owned houses. Since we last had the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government before the House, further details of the scheme have been placed in the public domain, including information on two pilot projects in Waterford and Carlow. The scheme must be as flexible as possible and it is important at this point that the Seanad contribute to the debate. The scheme will only apply to leased property or property that a local authority or an approved housing body might lease from a private owner. Many private owners do not want to become landlords. The scheme is not attractive because one has to pay PRSI and there is also the PRTB involved. We have to take this into account and provide that in certain instances local authorities might buy the properties in question.

In my county the most recent census figures show that 24% of the housing stock is empty. As I understand it, that is 24% of 65,000 houses at a time when there are 1,600 people on the housing list. There was a similar figure in 2010. There are a variety of house types, some of which are older houses in older parts of the town, some of which are in unfinished housing estates or established housing estates but which have not been lived in for years. We need to get technicians on the ground. That happened in 2010 when inspectors who had been working for the Department in granting the first-time buyer's grant went on the ground. We need people to knock on doors and establish why these properties are vacant and nobody is earning anything on them. We need to establish where the houses are that are tied with banks and the builder or owner is not in a position to sell. A further significant point is that banks will currently sell to vulture or venture funds, but they are not being mandated to offer to local authorities the suites of houses they possess that would be suitable for social housing. That would be the fastest way to increase the social housing stock of local authorities. I ask that the Minister be invited back to the House in the light of the great potential of the scheme.

I want to talk about a possible upside of Brexit, albeit we have to seize the opportunity.

I call on the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to advise whether she has put a strategy in place to target and attract businesses and financial institutions that are likely to move their operations out of Britain as a result of Brexit. Given our skilled workforce, proven track record in financial services and, in the aftermath of the United Kingdom's exit, our status as the only country in the European Union with English as the first language of business, a targeted campaign could well bring much needed jobs to Ireland. I ask the Minister to target companies aggressively which have an exit strategy from Britain. Last week there was much talk from Fine Gael about Brexit but nothing of substance in that regard in the budget provisions. I propose that funding be put in place to assist Irish entrepreneurs, businesses and Government representatives to attract euro financial jobs from London to Ireland.