Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. He has raised the important point that the voids programme provides local employment. The programme provides housing for local people and a lot of the work involves smaller local contractors. The scheme that the Government brought forward in July created 750 jobs across the country. We need that to be sustainable into the future.

I mentioned earlier that we need to revise how local authorities assess properties before they are re-tenanted. That needs to be done and I am asking officials to do it now.

I am committed to driving on with another voids programme next year. We are now in the middle of negotiations for budget allocations that will be announced next week. This has been one part of that. We have existing properties and, while we want to increase our housing stock and are committed to doing that as a Government, as am I as a Minister, we need to make sure we are using our existing homes well.

This year 2,500 people will be in homes who would otherwise not have been. That is something we need to build on, if the Deputy will excuse the pun.

We also need to make sure there is a targeted approach to this and that each local authority has a specific target. That has worked very well. They know exactly what they have to deliver, how they draw down the money and that we will work in co-operation with them. I commend them on the work they have done and the manner in which they have responded to my request to get these properties back into use.

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