Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask about vacant local authority homes. The report published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission shows that there are almost 5,000 empty local authority homes throughout the country. Some local authorities take more than a year to re-let a home. Cork City Council, for example, takes 85 weeks on average to re-let a home. With more than 60,000 households on housing waiting lists and even more people living in insecure housing assistance payment, HAP, tenancies, this is completely unacceptable. We know the most sustainable way to deal with housing is to bring vacant homes back into use. What is the Government doing to address the number of local authority homes that are left vacant for so long? When will the Government introduce a vacant homes tax?

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