Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today the Simon Community said it is unacceptable that 198,358 homes lie empty in Ireland, a number that will shock most people. In stark terms, that means that 13% of the total housing stock is vacant. According to answers to parliamentary questions received by my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, the group established to compile a register of vacant units and set out actions to bring them into use is due to report at the end of the first quarter of this year. Work is progressing too slowly on this very important issue. There seems to be a lack of understanding of the urgency of these matters.

As the Minister knows, the previous Government put a record amount of money into housing, which the current Government has been able to increase, but it appears that there is a distinct lack of delivery.

Projects have been announced but little progress seems to be happening on the ground. In November, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, promised work would begin on 350 units of modular housing by the end of 2016, but so far only 22 have been completed and they were all started by the last Government. Instead of building homes, it appears that local authorities are buying properties, which does nothing to increase supply.

Last August, the Labour Party proposed an eight point plan to tackle this specific issue of vacant houses. This morning the Simon Community launched its own ten point plan. Like the Labour Party, it calls for a vacant housing register that would see a real-time database with formal communication and data-sharing structures between relevant bodies. Like the Labour Party, it believes that more needs to be done on the vacant site levy. Sadly, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael combined to vote down a Labour Party Bill that would have achieved that last year. Both my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, have called for more money to be allocated to the Housing Agency's vacant housing purchasing initiative. Will this happen? Will the Government allocate more money now or do we have to wait for the capital review to be completed? Will the Government speed up the audit so that urgently needed accommodation can be provided from vacant units while so many people are in squalid conditions and looking for houses?

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