A GROUP of houses that Travellers won’t move into have so far cost nearly three times the price of new pads nearby.

The six houses at Cabragh Bridge, near Thurles in Co Tipperary, have racked up a €2.23m bill — €371,444 each.

3 Travellers in the area are refusing to move in Credit: PA:Press Association

3 TD ­Mattie McGrath says the council have questions to answer Credit: Crispin Rodwell - The Sun Dublin

The development last year made headlines when Peter Casey blasted the fact the properties were sitting idle during his ­controversial run for the Aras.

Traveller families are refusing to move in until a number of conditions are met, including the provision of facilities for horses.

Independent TD ­Mattie McGrath yesterday said the local council have “serious questions to answer” about the ongoing bill.

He fumed: “Let us contrast this with the price of the average three-bed semi in Tipperary, which already rose by 7.2 per cent to €151,375 in the last 12 months.

“That highlights in very stark terms the massive costs associated with these houses which are now empty and with little or no sign of dispute resolution occurring.”

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Deputy McGrath added that the vacant estate “is generating ­enormous resentment among those waiting five or ten years for houses and who would willingly accept a home without a list of special preconditions attaching.”

Tipperary County Council have more than 900 people on the housing waiting list in the Thurles area, but Cabragh Bridge has been the home of Travellers for decades.

Casey said during his campaign that it was “just wrong” they were unoccupied.