Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Dublin City Council has been given a significant allocation in order that it might deal with the issue of boarded up and voided apartments. We want the practice of boarding up or voiding dwellings to be brought to an end. Obviously, however, this is a matter for local authority members. Local authorities have received significant amounts of funding in recent years to assist them in dealing with these issues. Local authorities and the elected members thereof must get on with it and ensure that the money which has been allocated will be drawn down and spent. It can take a disappointingly long time for the latter to happen. A number of the people sitting opposite formerly served as members of local authorities. Some local authorities have received funding and we want them to take action in the context of using it as quickly as possible.

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