Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The local infrastructure housing activation fund was introduced by the previous Government. It is a key tool in the context of activating sites and is linked to the national planning framework, which is important in keeping our towns and villages vibrant.

Sometimes the issue of vacant housing can be taken out of proportion. Looking at the vacant homes register, in Roscommon in the Deputy's constituency, 72 properties are listed. While I acknowledge that we want to work to secure those properties and make them the subject of viable tenancies, we can also take the Deputy's suggestions on board and meet him to discuss them if he so wishes. It is important that we take a collaborative approach to housing. Many measures are used in conjunction with each other in order to try to tackle this issue. There is no silver bullet. When one looks at the pilot study was carried out and the information available on vacanthomes.ie -that information is independently held and is obtained, from the ground up, in constituencies - sometimes the perception is that this is a greater problem than is actually the case.

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