Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. We are aware that the CSO numbers from 2016 include homes that were for rent or for sale and holiday homes. Therefore, the statistic does not give the true number of vacant homes in the country. We now have a vacancy team in each of our 31 local authorities. The teams submitted their plans to my Department and are doing a deep dive to find out whether homes are truly vacant or whether they are just homes for sale or holiday homes. To get vacant homes from banks, we do not have to issue a compulsory purchase order, although we do in some instances. We actually engage through the Housing Agency with each of the financial lending institutions to take their vacant homes and bring them into social housing use. It is happening in every local authority area.

See this speech in context