Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 50 together.

I have had no direct interaction with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recently in respect of specific issues related to vacant housing. Officials of my Department are, however, in ongoing contact with local authorities on issues related to vacant housing, providing advice and guidance where appropriate. A series of briefing sessions for vacant home officers was organised between March and June 2020 and there is ongoing engagement with those officers as issues arise.

The national vacant housing reuse strategy, which was published by my Department in 2018, provides a targeted, effective and co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling vacancy across the country.

The range of objectives and actions it specifies have been pursued in partnership with stakeholders and agencies across the housing sector to address vacancy in our housing stock. In that context, all 31 local authorities have prepared a vacant homes action plan for their respective administrative areas. These plans identify the scale of vacant homes in their jurisdiction and set ambitious but realistic targets for the number of vacant homes that can ultimately be brought back into use. In that regard, my Department and the local authorities are being proactive in dealing with vacant properties and there are a number of schemes available to incentivise reactivating suitable dwellings into liveable housing stock.

My Department continues to keep vacant homes schemes and the various functions of the vacant homes officers under review, with ongoing feedback from those officers. I am anxious to ensure that best practice is implemented more consistently across local government and intend to address this by way of a circular following on from the new housing strategy, Housing for All, which will be published in the coming weeks.

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