Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree that void houses are an issue, not just from an antisocial behaviour point of view. They are low-hanging fruit in terms of getting houses back into the social housing stock, where they are desperately needed. Some local authorities are better than others but, to be fair, a lot of progress has been made. More than 25,000 voids have been returned to the housing stock in recent years, which means the schemes we have introduced are working. I do not have specific figures in respect of Limerick local authority. Certain local authorities are excellent in terms of turnaround speed, getting their voids back into the housing stock quickly and availing of the grants that are in place. To clarify, the average allowed per house is €11,000 but there is no upper limit per house for refurbishment. This can also be done in conjunction with the energy efficiency schemes. A significant amount is available under those schemes. I agree with the Deputy that we need to get all voids back into the housing stock as quickly as possible.

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