Roscommon Galway Deputy Denis Naughten says he hopes the latest grant scheme for refurbishing vacant homes will help the housing situation locally.
Details of the revised scheme are to be published after this week's cabinet meeting.
Deputy Naughten says under proposals put forward by the Regional Group of TD's last month, families can now apply for a grant of €50,000 to refurbish a home that's been vacant for two years, with an additional top-up grant if the property is derelict.
The properties may also be eligible for energy retrofitting grants of €30,000.
The Independent Roscommon TD says an important amendment of the scheme is that the people refurbishing the house no longer have to want to live there, but can rent it out instead.
'It is not just for owner occupation but people will be able to rent out these properties after they have been refurbished and we feel that this will make a big difference. The CSO state that there is up to one hundred and sixty thousand homes across the country that are vacant at the moment. The west and north west regional assembly has estimated across Roscommon and East Galway that we are looking at six thousand vacant properties. If some of those could be brought back into use then it would have a significant impact on the housing demand locally.'
