Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I appreciate this is a joint venture and that perhaps some of my questions come under the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, perhaps the Minister could inform us regarding the eligibility criteria, population and that figure of 400. I have come across a number of cases, for example, a young lad on the road from us is in a village in a country area that does not have a population of more than 400 people. The house he has bought has been empty, definitely throughout my lifetime. He is doing it up but he will not get any assistance because the population of the village is not greater than 400.

Do local authorities have autonomy in this scheme? I appreciate the rules are there for a reason, but would it be the case that if they prioritised all of the eligible applications and there were a few that did not meet that 400 figure, there would be wriggle room? Any house that is being brought back into life in villages should be supported. Is there any wriggle room with regard to eligibility?

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