Dáil debates
Thursday, 20 June 2024
Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions
Vacant Properties
10:50 am
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
We have appointed town regeneration officers in every county. They will engage with communities and with landowners who have derelict properties nothing is happening to. The Deputy and I know well that there is a myriad of reasons that properties are left derelict. I often go into a town and ask why on earth no one is living in those houses. However, there is probably a story behind it. It is quite complex and is often to do with inheritance. A load of things are happening. However, a lot of work is being done on it and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has the Croí Cónaithe grant and the living city initiative under his Department. We have a number of social housing programmes, including the social housing investment programme and the capital assistance scheme, and local authorities and approved housing bodies are tackling vacancy and dereliction through the repurposing and renewing of vacant buildings as new social homes. I saw it in my town, Clones. It would do you good to go down a street that used to be full of dereliction. People are now coming back to live in those towns and it is positive.
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