Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Dillon proved my point in thanking the Government for giving refurbishment grants for a post office and a Garda station it closed. The point is the Government is closing key public services in these types of towns. Those buildings are becoming derelict and now the Government is coming back with a few bob to do up the windows and the roof a little bit. This is why so many of these towns are being emptied out. Yes, it is a changing world. The point is that the Government is a catalyst for the closure of a lot of the services in these towns in the first place.

Another point, and this is key, is that the Government is creating funds but making the criteria so challenging that drawdown is really difficult. The Minister for housing told me he created a grant for vacant properties to be refurbished. Over two and a half years, only €250,000 a year has been drawn down and 70 houses in total have been refurbished. Given there are 130,000 vacant homes in the country, it will take 3,300 years to refurbish them at that pace. There is no urgency in solving the problems with vacancy. The Minister's reply is simply a press statement announcing the allocation of a few million quid in order for the Government to be able to say on radio and television that it is doing its bit for rural Ireland. It is not enough by half.

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