Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Approximately 5,000 additional social housing units will be provided in 2014. This will include new builds, units leased from the not-for-profit sector and general leasing units. We are also on track to secure 500 social housing units from NAMA this year and will deliver 2,000 social housing units through NAMA in the lifetime of the Government. In the recent budget we returned, albeit on a modest scale, to mainstream housing construction. It is an issue on which I hope we will be able to expand as the country's finances improve. The recent budget contained an additional €30 million for social housing construction and refurbishment. Approximately 50% of the additional investment will be dedicated to bringing long-term vacant units back into use in 2014. It is estimated that more than 300 units will benefit from the dedicated fund. In the coming weeks local authorities will be asked to submit specific properties for investment.

There is a problem with vacant housing stock. Some 3% of the local authority housing stock is vacant. This includes the natural turnover at any time when tenancies end and a new tenant is to be appointed. However, a number of local authority dwellings are vacant for an unacceptably long period. These are issues that must be dealt with and I hope local authorities, with the resources provided in the budget, will get to grips with it in order that we do not see the continuing problem of dwellings lying idle for long periods. It is a waste in view of the number of people on housing lists who could use them. It is also a loss of revenue for the local authority concerned and, in many cases, a problem for local communities where boarded-up dwellings constitute an eyesore.

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