8. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans he has to increase the funding per unit for refurbishing vacant and derelict local authority houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12669/25]

Sentiment score: 0.13

My question is about local authority vacant homes, known as voids. Are there any plans for Government to increase the money allowed to each local authority per unit? It is an issue that causes concern across the State, particularly when people live next door to a local authority house that is boarded up, which can be the case for a number of years. Is the Minister of State increasing the funding per unit?

Sentiment score: 0.15

I thank the Minister of State. I am not sure I heard him correctly in respect of a limit of €11,000. Limerick council gets €11,000 per unit for each house it does up. The average cost per unit to the council is €48,000. The cost of refurbishment is a major problem, which the council cannot afford itself. We need to look at the issue clearly. Local authorities such as Limerick cannot refurbish these properties without meaningful support from central government. The current grant was not even increased in line with construction inflation. These sites are eyesores which bring down the value of property when they could be used to house local families. I was dealing with a family recently who are living in emergency accommodation in a hotel. The mother was looking out at the estate she comes from, where three local authority houses have been boarded up for more than two years. The system is not working properly. As I have said in this House previously, void houses can be a magnet for antisocial behaviour and dumping rubbish, with people gathering around them. It is not fair on the neighbours. We need a better system whereby councils are funded and can deliver the return on these houses.

Sentiment score: 0.02

Limerick council has done a very good job when it can, when it has the money. The process is cumbersome. They have to go through bundles; they cannot just do one but have to do a couple. It takes quite a while to come back. Many of the houses that are boarded up have only minor works to be done. While waiting for authorisation from the Department, they end up being boarded up, which costs €3,000 to €4,000. Nobody wants to live next to a house that is boarded up. It is not fair when there is family coming to visit. The estate does not look great. The issue here is making the process simpler and funding the councils to be able to deliver. For instance, in Limerick there are always 200 vacant houses. When we get 20 done, 20 more come onstream. There is no plan to address this, to get it back to zero and start again. That is what we need to do. We need to change the system. It is low-hanging fruit, as the Minister of State said. This is the fastest way to deliver social housing and people are in need of those properties.

Sentiment score: -0.03