John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about the vacant homes grant the Government announced a number of months ago. We all know what that grant is. It is an excellent scheme allowing people to get between €30,000 and €50,000 to renovate derelict and vacant homes. I would like a debate on the operation of the scheme which has now been open for three months. I am concerned about how different local authorities are approaching this. It is a classic example of Government introducing a really good policy and funding initiative, but it is down to the local authorities to implement it. My fear is there would be a discrepancy between local authorities regarding their ability to deliver those funding applications.

For example, a local authority might not have an engineer appointed to assess the applications coming in. One local authority might not put enough manpower resources into the application process, whereas another local authority could be flying through the approval process for these applications and people are able to start this right away. I have come across people applying for these grants, wanting to start work on vacant and derelict homes and yet having to sit around for many weeks until their application is processed. I want to get reassurance from the Minister in a future debate that he and his Department are ensuring that a really good scheme is rolled out equitably and fairly across all local authorities.