Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary)
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source
I submitted a parliamentary question last July on the number of vacant properties the State has. Earlier I mentioned that there are 3,500 vacant local authority homes which would actually accommodate everybody who was in emergency accommodation at the moment. I mentioned how long it is taking to flip those houses around compared to the private sector. The Minister of State would have to agree that this is a difficulty. There are also 150 empty State properties. Many of those are under the aegis of the OPW. On one occasion the Minister of State said that there were 65 surplus properties owned by the OPW that are vacant. This level of vacancy in properties owned by the State itself is an issue. The State is the biggest hoarder of vacant properties in the country.
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