Vulture funds blocked from buying 31,000 homes in two years

Thousands of houses and duplexes have been ringfenced for individual buyers after a measure was introduced by Government following a public outcry.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien is also to seek approval to join other States in calling for a 'precautionary pause' on deep-sea mining.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien is to update Cabinet about how emergency changes have prevented vulture funds from buying more than 30,000 homes in the last two years.

The measure was introduced by Government following a public outcry after vulture funds snapped up new homes in Maynooth and Lucan, forcing ministers to sign off on the measure.

In the two years since the move, 31,000 houses and duplexes have been ringfenced for individual buyers and restricted from bulk buying or multiple sales to a single purchaser.

Solar panel grant

Separately, new grants of up to €162,500 are being made available for businesses to install solar panels.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan and Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney will bring details of the extended range of supports for businesses which will help reduce energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.

The new tiered grant system will range from €2,700 up to €162,500 to support the installation of solar PV and associated smart energy infrastructure for a wide range of commercial and public-sector non-residential buildings.

The business grants will run alongside similar supports for residential buildings. To date, nearly 60,000 homes have availed of solar grants.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien will seek approval to join other States in calling for a “precautionary pause” on deep-sea mining on the international seabed amid fears of exploitation and environmental damage.

Drop in asylum-seeker number

Separately, Cabinet is also to be told that there has been a drop of nearly 70% in the number of people seeking asylum here that have arrived from so-called safe countries as the Government moves to make further changes to the process.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee will inform ministers that the sharp decrease has come about following the introduction of an accelerated process last year for those who arrive in Ireland seeking international protection. She will provide the details as part of a memo to Government on the modernisation of the International Protection Office, proposing increasing its output.

Changes were already designed to ensure a first-instance decision was made within three months in such cases, a significant reduction from a norm of 17-24 months last year.

The ‘safe’ countries are Albania; Bosnia & Herzegovina; Georgia; Kosovo; Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of); Montenegro; Serbia; and South Africa.

Since last November, the numbers arriving from these countries have decreased from 210 applications in November to 64 in May this year — a drop of almost 70%.

A new target of 1,000 first-instance decisions being issued per month by spring 2024 will be adopted, a significant rise from the 200 decisions per month made in 2021.

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