Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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519. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when he expects funding towards housing needs and repairs to be released to Meath County Council as there are a large number of properties across the county that are lying vacant and as funding is required to ensure they are fully habitable for new tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29441/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In response to my Department's request earlier this year for submissions under the new capital funding programme for returning vacant local authority houses to productive use I allocated €15 million across all local authority areas for the refurbishment of some 952 properties. Funding was allocated on an equitable and evidence based system, adjudicated and weighted under select criteria including the level of local housing need and the unit cost of the proposals received. Funding of up to €30,000 per unit is available for a suite of works to improve energy efficiency and upgrade the fabric of the house. Meath County Council was allocated €504,000 for the refurbishment of those 22 units which best met the selection criteria and fell within the unit cost ceiling for the scheme.

Under the recently announced €200 million capital stimulus for the construction sector, of which some €50 million is earmarked for social housing, my Department will provide a further €20 million for the refurbishment of additional vacant units in order that these can be made available as quickly as possible to families on the housing waiting lists. On 10 June my Department wrote to local authorities asking them to submit by the end of the month proposals for the refurbishment of additional units in 2014. My Department has completed its assessment of the submissions received and I expect that a further 1,000 vacant units will be retrofitted this year. I intend to announce details of the allocations to local authorities very shortly.