Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Croí Cónaithe scheme is very good, and I congratulate the Government on bringing it in. It is helping and beginning to take off. There is a lot of interest in my office about it and many are inquiring about it. There are a few anomalies in the scheme, as is the case for all schemes. The first relates to the fact that a house has to have been vacant for two years. There are cases where an older person has passed away and the house has been handed over to a child, grandchild or whoever, and they want to renovate it because it is run down. There should be something to help such people. A second house on a farm may have fallen derelict and perhaps there is no son or daughter to take it up. If such houses were brought back into use for rental purposes, it would help. I know of a proposal to convert three offices into housing. The owner applied for an exemption certificate but was refused. Such cases have to be re-examined.

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