Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Going back to the Department officials, there is a €50,000 grant given to each local authority to employ a vacant homes officer. There are only three full-time vacant homes officers in the 31 local authorities. Another Department has sent out a circular that every local authority should have a full-time vacant homes officer but I do not believe one person can do that job. In Cork city and county councils, we have an estimated 9,000 vacant properties. How will one full-time officer in Cork City Council and one in Cork County Council make a proper dent in that? We need proper funding for local authorities to have derelict sites officers who work with landowners who want to work. Where landowners do not, we will need to compulsorily purchase those. Do the Department officials believe €50,000 will be enough money for local authorities to tackle vacancy?