Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

According to the Minister, departmental statistics indicate that 8,517 long-term voids have been returned to use since 2014. According to the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, there were 4,202 voids in local authority housing stock in 2014, of which 1,082 were vacant pending regeneration - this includes O'Devaney Gardens - and 1,455 were in Dublin. If NOAC has said that the number of vacant properties was approximately 4,000 in 2014, how can the Minister say that 8,000 vacant houses have been remediated? In County Offaly, to take an example pertinent to our constituencies, 48 voids were recorded by NOAC in 2014, but departmental statistics suggest that 138 vacant properties were returned to use in 2017. In County Wicklow, ten voids were recorded by NOAC in 2014, but departmental statistics suggest that 97 vacant properties were returned to use in 2017. How can the Minister square this circle? The indication and implication is that huge work has been done to return 8,000 houses to use, but we know from NOAC that just 4,000 properties were void three years ago. We have to respect NOAC as the independent State organisation that has been put in place to adjudicate on such matters. This discrepancy can be added to the hazy Government statistics we have seen in recent years regarding the number of starts. When we looked at the figures emanating from other sources, those statistics were proven to have been built on sand.

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