Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right that estate management is really important. On Monday, I was in Galway city and county. We have approved in the housing Department alone 300 additional staff in our local authorities this year. Those posts are being filled. I was talking to the chief executive of the housing team in Galway city. Like any other sector, it is taking longer to find and employ people but those posts have been approved.

Since the Government came into office, the budgets the Deputy has rightly supported have put about €150 million into voids in our local authorities. The planned maintenance approach is important but where we get submissions from a local authority seeking additional staffing, particularly around estate management, they will be assessed positively. As we build up our housing stock, as we are seeing across the country, it will lead to more stock, more work required on maintenance and estate management to deal with issues which arise, as they do from time to time, from the very beginning and make sure we are building not just homes but communities.

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