Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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3. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the criteria used in the calculation of returned voids; the number returned in 2015, 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52433/17]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There is nothing more irritating for people than to see voids not being used. The Government has told us it is dealing with this issue by putting more people into such properties. It has provided certain numbers. What criteria are used when returned voids are being calculated? How many returned voids were there in 2015, 2016 and to date in 2017? I want to get a clear handle on that so I can appreciate whether what the Minister is saying is correct. There are contradictions in the information emanating from various bodies.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Vacant social houses, which are categorised as voids, need far greater repairs than normal reletting works to bring them to a suitable letting condition. They are vacant pending that work. Strong funding support has been given to all local authorities to remediate vacant social housing so the homes involved can be let again as soon as possible. This Exchequer funding is in addition to the funding provided by local authorities to bring vacant properties back into use. The works that are carried out focus on returning vacant social homes to use as quickly as possible and on remediation work that brings long-term benefits. Insulation retrofitting, for example, means that when a house is let again, it has high levels of comfort and reduced heating costs for the incoming tenant. Almost €100 million in Exchequer funding has been made available to local authorities since the introduction of the voids programme. Over 8,000 homes have been remediated since 2014. The number of vacant homes returned to productive use was 2,696 in 2015 and 2,090 in 2016. The number of vacant homes returned to productive use so far in 2017 is 1,228. In addition to vacant social homes, there is a regular turnover of short-term vacancies in the social housing stock of local authorities. A modest amount of work is needed in such cases. In general, such vacancies are addressed by local authorities from their own resources.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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According to the Minister, departmental statistics indicate that 8,517 long-term voids have been returned to use since 2014. According to the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, there were 4,202 voids in local authority housing stock in 2014, of which 1,082 were vacant pending regeneration - this includes O'Devaney Gardens - and 1,455 were in Dublin. If NOAC has said that the number of vacant properties was approximately 4,000 in 2014, how can the Minister say that 8,000 vacant houses have been remediated? In County Offaly, to take an example pertinent to our constituencies, 48 voids were recorded by NOAC in 2014, but departmental statistics suggest that 138 vacant properties were returned to use in 2017. In County Wicklow, ten voids were recorded by NOAC in 2014, but departmental statistics suggest that 97 vacant properties were returned to use in 2017. How can the Minister square this circle? The indication and implication is that huge work has been done to return 8,000 houses to use, but we know from NOAC that just 4,000 properties were void three years ago. We have to respect NOAC as the independent State organisation that has been put in place to adjudicate on such matters. This discrepancy can be added to the hazy Government statistics we have seen in recent years regarding the number of starts. When we looked at the figures emanating from other sources, those statistics were proven to have been built on sand.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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We both acknowledge that the voids programme is an important piece of work. It is much cheaper for a local authority to get an empty social housing property that has been vacant, and could be vacant for a long time, back into use than it is to build a new property. When such homes become part of the social housing stock, people can be housed in them. It is important, in the interests of smart investment of public funding, to ensure local authorities are doing their work and managing their stock efficiently. The voids programme has brought over 8,000 units, which might otherwise not be in use today, back into social housing use. The difference between the NOAC figures and what we are doing is that the money we provide as funding for the voids programme is separate from what NOAC is counting. Some of the houses NOAC counted in 2014 might have been part of the 2016 and 2017 voids programmes. There is no discrepancy between the numbers. We fund the voids programme for local authorities to bring vacant units back into use. In my initial reply, I gave the Deputy the numbers for 2015, 2016 and to date in 2017. Over 8,000 homes have been remediated since 2014. We still have a voids programme to complete under Rebuilding Ireland over the next three years. This will bring more voids back into use. As we get towards the end of Rebuilding Ireland, that number will decrease dramatically as we reach a point where most voids are back in use and local authorities are managing their stock much more efficiently.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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We all share the aspiration that there should be no voids in circulation. This scheme has received €85 million in Government funding. There appears to be double-counting. If the Minister cannot explain this sharp divergence orally, maybe he will put it in writing. The figure provided by an independent body is half the figure provided by the Department. It does not add up. We need to know. If there is doubt, the Minister should bring clarity. There is too much at stake, including a great deal of money, for this to be hanging over us. It took long enough to get to the bottom of the statistics in respect of housing starts, when ESB figures were being used. Some €85 million has been set aside for these purposes. In 2014, NOAC told us that there were 4,000 void units. The Minister has told us that 8,000 such units have been put back into use. Despite his best intentions, I am afraid the explanation he has just given me does not cut it. If it is not possible to provide an explanation of this sharp divergence orally, I ask for it to be provided in writing. An independent authority with Government jurisdiction is giving one figure and a Department is giving a figure that is twice as big. Some €85 million is at stake.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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We have put more than €100 million into the voids programme. The NOAC report counted voids at a point in time. We have given figures in respect of the voids we have funded through the local authorities to get such properties back into use. Of course that includes properties that became vacant after NOAC did its work in 2014. There is no discrepancy between the figures. We follow the money to see how it gets voids back into use. The important thing is that the voids are not being left vacant. They are being brought back into social housing use. NOAC did its work at a point in time in 2014. Since then, more houses have become vacant. We have funded local authorities to get those houses back into use.