A local councillor has expressed his fury at the fact that two structurally-sound houses in Gort have been lying idle for the past four years by their owners, the Health Service Executive – despite families locally crying out for a home.

Cllr Gerry Finnerty wants a system put in place to insist that the owners of any long-term vacant properties should ‘use it or lose it’.

The two adjoining houses at located in a prime location on the Ennis Road in Gort and while they are structurally in good shape, they have become overgrown and there is even vegetation growing out of the chimneys.

According to Cllr Finnerty, the imposing two-storey properties could each house a family of five or six if they became available on the market.

The councillor has raised the deteriorating state of these two houses with the HSE on a number of occasions but has not got any satisfactory response.

“They are just sitting on their hands,” he remarked.

“Shame on them at a time when people are really struggling for accommodation and these two dwellings could easily be brought back into use before they deteriorate any further,” Cllr Finnerty added.

The houses were originally owned by Gort Mental Health Services – but due to running costs, upkeep and a lack of clients it was decided to offload these properties which were then taken over by the HSE.

At the time it was expected that the HSE would put them to some use, but they have not been occupied since they acquired them and parts of the dwellings are now boarded up.

The properties have their own entrance, two large rear gardens and two car garages. However, on closer inspection, some of the tiles are falling off the roof and there is vegetation growing out of one of the chimneys. The exterior has also become overgrown.

Cllr Finnerty explained that the HSE had been approached by both himself and a number of concerned asking them to either sell them off or utilise them but the response has been vague.

“No state body should be allowed to leave property vacant at any time not to mind in a housing crisis that currently. It should be a case of use it or lose it.

“The Government are out of touch in relation to what is happening out there. This is just one example of property that could be occupied going to waste.

“If the amount of vacant properties were brought back into use, it would certainly go some way towards addressing the crisis,” he said.