Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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164. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if Galway County Council have applied for funding to renovate a vacant unit (details provided) in County Galway; if any such funds have been drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47385/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, the management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock is the responsibility of the relevant housing authority.

My Department provides funding to local authorities for works the refurbishment of vacant properties and returning them to productive use. €30 million has been available in 2014 targeting the return of 1,960 vacant and boarded up units to productive use, in an energy efficient condition.

Galway County Council has been allocated €958,263 under this programme in 2014 and will return some 76 vacant units back into productive use. It is a matter for each local authority to identify the units it is targeting within the terms of the funding programme. While records indicate that no application for funding was submitted for the property referred to in the question, I understand that Galway County Council intend s to include th e property in their 2015 programme of works. Budget 2015 has given a further impetus to this area, and I envisage a further 1,000 vacant properties being returned to productive use through this additional funding.