Mr. Robert Burns:

While the vacancy rate in Fingal is quite low we take the view that there is not really an acceptable rate. We are looking at approximately 17 properties per 1,000 based on the 2016 census. The vacancy rate is just over 4%. Even over the past three years we have brought 70 private vacant properties back into use. We use the various tools available to us, such as buy and renew and repair and lease. The real skill of the team is being able to engage on the ground with the property owners, walking the streets, and finding out what is happening. A lot of our successes come from informal engagement as much as formal engagement. As the chief executive mentioned in his opening statement we are looking at a data project that will reconcile the three main sets of data that are out there nationally. We are looking at that to see if we can get one considered overall system to try to assess and record vacancy where it arises, and Fingal is part of that pilot project.