Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and welcome his commitment to vacant housing and the voids. The figure of more than €300 million since 2014 is very significant. I very much welcome the Minister's statements on a commitment to a prompt turnaround of properties, ensuring only essential work is carried out so those houses can be re-let quickly and that any other work that is non-essential can be done through a planned maintenance programme. That is critically important. The Minister knows full well nothing frustrates people more than seeing vacant housing in local authority areas. We need to continue to work hard to ensure it does not happen. It was debated in the Dáil earlier this week and the Taoiseach addressed the issue also. It really is inexcusable in a housing crisis that there are properties lying vacant for up to 12 months and in some cases beyond that. I welcome the Minister's commitment and hope we can make progress in the near future.

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