Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Maybe he has seen the light. In the interests of clarity, Deputy Tully asked about people being able to build in rural areas. I very much support that. We increased the grant from €30,000 to €50,000 and from €50,000 to €70,000 in terms of the costs involved. We extended it to rental properties. We brought the period of time back two years from pre-1993. We have made significant changes to the scheme. We will do a review of the scheme, as we are doing. We have overcome the issue of the second charge. The scheme is there. It is very much a fit-for-purpose scheme.

The point Deputy Wynne made will form part of the review. There were 248 applications in Clare and 119 of those have been approved. Regarding Carlow-Kilkenny, in Carlow there have been 59 applications and 20 approved and in Kilkenny, there were 110 applications and 43 approved. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has brought through a very creative sister scheme with €7,500 available for farmhouses in rural areas in terms of bringing consultants in. In tandem, we want to preserve the old farmhouses but allow people to live in them. What the Minister of State has brought forward will ensure that area is assisted. Deputy McAuliffe made reference to urban areas as well. Overall, this scheme works because of its simplicity. Anyone can apply. We certainly want to see the processing times improving in certain local authorities but overall to date, this scheme is working.

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