Vol. 536 No. 5
264 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his views on the success of the rural resettlement local authority pilot scheme; and the contact he has had with local authorities which have not offered any accommodation to applicants who wish to surrender houses in Dublin. [14616/01]
The pilot rural resettlement scheme provided for the building or acquisition of additional local authority houses which could be let to applicants who are on Rural Resettlement Ireland's waiting list and who wished to transfer from an urban to a rural area. Since the inception of the scheme in 1997 additional "starts" have been allocated to Clare, Cork North, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Tipperary North Riding County Councils. To date 46 families have moved under the scheme and it is understood that a further 12 families are due to move shortly. The pilot scheme is implemented at local level by the local authorities in conjunction with Rural Resettlement Ireland. Local authorities liaise directly with RRI in relation to the allocation of dwellings to households under the rural resettlement programme. My Department will shortly be meeting with RRI to, inter alia, review the operation of the pilot scheme.
