David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am amazed that Cork County Council has not yet applied for the funding. I will go back to it. Perhaps someone from the council is listening. At one stage, the chief executive told me that he would need a vacant homes officer for every town in the county. Is there an onus on the Department to be more proactive and to push local authorities into appointing these officers and to ask them to report on a monthly basis to it regarding the progress they are making in terms of the number of vacant houses they have identified? We still do not know the full extent of what is happening. Perhaps An Post could be asked to report as well. Does the Minister agree that the number of vacant properties may be much higher than reported? Will he get some senior officials in the Department to focus on this matter in a proactive way? Is there a senior official or a team in the Department focusing on vacant homes and derelict homes? How many officials are involved and what are their grades? Are assistant secretaries dealing with the matter and are they reporting to the Minister on a weekly basis regarding progress across the country?

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