Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Local authorities have been out of the building game for a number of years, whether it is 13, 14 or 16 or however many years. There is a huge amount of work happening. My responsibility and that of the Department is to drive that effort. That is why we have the housing summit, the new unit and why we are providing new resources where they are needed, not only in the Department but also in the local authorities. The fast track process is working very well. It is not a year old but after a year, we will probably undertake a review. There has been a soft review to see what has been approved or declined and why. Some issues that we thought might have washed out in the pre-application consultations did not and we will look over that. However, it has been successful for the most part. Regarding progress, we are meeting the timelines for the fast-track process which is very good.

Louth County Council has done a huge amount on vacant homes and it is to be commended. The council has used, or threatened to use, compulsory purchase order powers and getting vacant property back into use which is good. Its officials have led the way for other local authorities and shared their expertise at the housing summit, which has been helpful. The Department has a vacancy team to work with vacancy officers in each local authority. We are devising more incentives that can be put in place to help local authorities to deliver on their targets for getting vacant units back into use.