Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Carrigy. I recognise and acknowledge the tremendous work undertaken by Longford County Council in respect of its reletting and voids programme. It is crucially important that the Department supports that.

I will certainly take back the issue that the Senator has raised here today about the current scheme and the allocation of €11,000 per home. I think the matter needs to be revisited on the basis of the information he has presented this morning.

We also need to look at a long-term sustainable plan. Rather than being reactive, we need to be proactive in how we consider the voids programme and put vacant properties back into use. Certainly this is an extremely important area. We have scaled up our ambition to embark on one of the largest voids programmes over the last four and half years. This year, we have provided up to €31 million for a target of 2,300 properties. Last year, it was €46 million for 2,481 voids. This funding tackles a large number of long-term vacant properties and brings them back into use.

I will ask my officials in the Department to further engage with Longford County Council on the matters raised by the Senator. I know that he wants to raise the level of ambition to put more stock back into use. I also know that the local authority has undertaken a number of processes such as funding stock condition surveys and examining ways to get better value for money when it comes to tackling a large number of homes. Maybe they could be put back into use under a single framework or single contract. I have no issue working with the Senator on that.