467 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if a Gaeltacht house improvement grant is available for the renovation of unoccupied old houses which are not the primary residence of the applicant. [11376/01]
Under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts administered by my Department house improvement grants are available to the occupier of a dwelling-house in a Gaeltacht area who can satisfy the conditions laid down by my Department that he/she is entitled to a beneficial interest in possession in another dwelling-house in a Gaeltacht area and that the improvement is desirable and that the expense thereof can be economically incurred.
As with all grants under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts Irish must be used as the normal spoken language of the applicant's household and satisfy my Department that the house in question is, or will be, permanently rented or lived in on a permanent basis before a grant can be paid.
