Fine Gael to consider vacancy grant changes

The party is to look at extending the vacant-property refurbishment grant to include commercial properties.

The current grant allows individuals to access up to €70,000 to refurbish vacant or derelict properties into permanent or rental homes.

Fine Gael is to propose a series of measures on home ownership, including extension of the Help to Buy scheme for five years and expansion of the First Home Scheme.

The manifesto contains a pledge to prevent the bulk purchase of homes by vulture funds.

It also details that the Government will further increase the renters’ tax credit and will call on local authorities to acquire 1,500 properties under the tenant in-situ scheme each year.

Two-thirds of Irish adults believe that housing is the most important issue facing the country.

Research, carried out by the European Commission, shows that 64% of Irish respondents cited housing when asked to identify the two main issues of concern in their own country, compared to the EU average of just 12%.

Citizens of only two other countries identified housing as the most important issue facing their country: Luxembourg and the Netherlands, cited by 59% and 49%, respectively.

Rising prices were the second-most-important concern for Irish people, with 40% citing the cost of living as an issue.

Inflation was the main concern in 19 countries and among all EU citizens, with 38% saying it as an issue.

Some 50% of all respondents in Croatia, Greece, Hungary, and Malta expressed concern about the general cost of living.

The Eurobarometer poll of more than 25,000 adults across the 27 EU states, including more than 1,000 in Ireland, was carried out between April and May 2024.

In Ireland, health emerged as the third-most-important concern, with 29% raising health services as an issue, a rate more than double the EU average.

Immigration, which has become an important topic of debate during the local and European election campaigns in the Republic, was ranked the fourth-highest concern among Irish respondents.

The survey showed that 20% of people in the Republic raised immigration as an important issue facing the country, compared to the EU average of 16%.

Irish people were less worried about the environment, climate change, crime, and unemployment than their EU counterparts.

The survey revealed that 43% of respondents expressed trust in the Government, which was the joint fifth-highest level, with Finland, and above the EU average of 33%.