Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are going to do that. Fortunately, this year we have put €4 billion into a contingency fund in the budget for Covid for 2022. Some of that is now being used for Ukraine. The figure the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform used last week was an estimate of what it could be in 2023. We hope it is not and that the war will end. I accept the Deputy's bona fides and the merits of what he is saying in terms of vacant properties. I will ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to meet the Deputy to discuss vacant properties in his area. We would like to find them, particularly local authority vacant properties. I assure the Deputy that we will do everything we can to get them repaired. I do not want any vacant properties hanging around the place. They should not be hanging around the place. That is why we had a special voids programme two years ago to get voids brought back into use for social housing, in particular. There is also the repair and lease scheme. On Tuesday, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage brought a package to us that deals with repair and lease for non-local authority housing to get them brought back, and to do more on the voids in terms of the social housing list. We are also seeking to extend notice to quit periods, for example, to give greater time to tenants. The Deputy mentioned the case of people being evicted. We want to delay eviction as long as we possibly legally can. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will ask the Minister to engage with him in terms of those vacant properties.

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