Ms Geraldine Tallon:

From a local authority point of view, internal capital receipts are much lower than they would have been a number of years ago because, for example, there are no housing sales. We monitor vacancies on an annual basis through the service indicators report, so we have figures year on year for the vacancy rate in the local government system. In the last service indicators for 2011 the rate for vacant housing was 3.15% or approximately 4,000 houses in the system. In 2012, we spent a significant amount of money under our energy efficiency and remedial works programme targeting vacant dwellings to try to bring them back into service. We allowed a grant of up to €18,000 per house or 90% of the cost. Under that scheme over 2,500 houses were improved to be brought back into effective use. We are now investing in insulation and draught proofing.

However, it is a reality that there is that level of 3% to 4% vacancy in any year, according to our service indicators. There are a variety of reasons for that and they are not always related exclusively to inefficiency on the part of the local authority. It can be the case that housing estates become unpopular. There has been some media coverage in recent times of the extent to which prospective tenants refuse offers of accommodation or can have unrealistic expectations in terms of the choice of accommodation. It is a live issue in the local government system as to how many offers of accommodation one can have without suffering a penalty in terms of one's position on the list.