SINN Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan has challenged Minister of State Damien English TD over the issue of local authority houses lying idle and boarded up across Limerick City.
“The ‘Programme for a Partnership Government’ commits to ‘significantly increasing and expediting the delivery of social housing units.’ However this is most certainly not happening in Limerick City,” he added.
“Last September I stood in the Dáil and told Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy that there were more than 70 council houses lying empty and boarded up across Limerick City.
“Today, the vast bulk of these same properties remain boarded up.
“At that time, I specifically mentioned houses in Lee Estate, in Castleconnell and a property in Ballynanty.”
Deputy Quinlivan added that there are currently 2,994 people on the Limerick housing list.
“Shamefully these same properties, along with many, many more are still lying idle.
“We are in the midst of a terrible housing crisis, yet dozens of houses remain boarded up right across Limerick City. It’s madness.
“This government’s housing policy is failing dramatically, and it’s incredibly frustrating to people who are on the housing waiting list, as they can see houses that are unoccupied, but lie idle because there is no funding to refurbish them,” Deputy Quinlivan added.
