81 vacant council houses in Cavan

40 council houses have been vacant for more than a year

One in almost every 56 empty council houses in County Cavan have been boarded up for more than a year.

That’s according to Sinn Fein Senator for Cavan-Monaghan Pauline Tully.

She says today in County Cavan there are 81 vacant homes belonging to Cavan County Council.

Of those, 25 have been lying vacant for up to six months, while 16 are vacant from between six to 12 months and 40 are vacant for between 12 and 18 months.

Calling the statistics “insulting” to those struggling to find homes during the ongoing housing crisis, Senator Tully said “this is beyond scandalous”.

“Families in Cavan are crying out for homes while perfectly good homes have been left to rot,” she said in a statement to the Celt.

“We know that these cause dumping and anti-social behaviour. They stigmatise decent communities and for people in Cavan they are a constant reminder of the government’s failures," she went on.

“Cavan County Council should be funded to do their job. Instead, red-tape and bureaucracy coupled with underfunding leave homes empty for years in Co. Cavan.”

Speaking about how families are rearing children in emergency accommodation and adult children are emigrating because they can’t get on the Irish property market, Pauline Tully said: “I am sick and tired of the government’s excuses and broken promises. They try to blame everyone but themselves. The reality is that this is an issue in all local authorities and in far too many communities because of their failings.

“They [the government] do not provide enough funding to maintain homes and they do not provide enough funding to return them to use.