Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What I heard from what the Minister of State said was that having 90,000 vacant houses is not an issue because that is only 4.5% of the overall stock of housing. That is not good enough for a person stuck in the middle of a housing crisis who is looking at vacant and derelict houses in every city, town and village. In 2018, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, referenced voids and said:

It beggars belief that we are here talking about this issue again when we cannot even get our act together in terms of the properties we own. It is a scandal.

This is what the Minister said in this Chamber in 2018.

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