Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty has criticised the government after it emerged no Vacant Property Refurbishment Grants have yet to be drawn down in Donegal.
He said this as an example of the government’s failure to tackle vacant and derelict properties amid a deepening housing crisis.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil today, Deputy Doherty noted that only 21 grants under the scheme had been drawn down in the past 18 months, with no grants drawn down at all in Donegal.
Successful applicants have 13 months to complete works before they can draw down the grant. We have asked Donegal County Council for a response in relation to the local figures.
Deputy Doherty also criticised the government for what he described as the ‘complete absence of information’ relating to the scheme
“In the past 18 months, only 21 grants have been drawn down from the government’s flagship scheme,” Deputy Doherty said.
“Donegal is one of the worst affected by dereliction in the State, and yet not a single grant has been paid out under the government’s scheme – not one.”
He went on to blame Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael whom he said ‘created this housing crisis’, and ‘the longer you remain in office the worse it will get.’
“Sinn Féin has put forward a much more ambitious proposal for bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use,” he added.
“Through increased capital funding to Local Authorities, we want to see up to 4,000 vacant and derelict properties a year brought into use for social and affordable housing.”
