Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since taking office, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Government have embarked on the largest voids programme ever undertaken. Funding was granted for 3,607 voids in 2020, 2,425 voids in 2021 and 2,307 voids in 2022. The target for this year is 2,300 voids. The funding provided has tackled a large number of long-term vacant stock and brought them thankfully back into use. It has enabled local authorities to get on top of the issue and pave the way for a transition to a radically different approach to local authority housing stock maintenance. This involves full stock condition service of all local authority homes within four to five years, which started in a number of local authorities in 2022; strategic and informed planned maintenance work programmes which will address shortcomings in homes occupied by the sitting tenants; and better value for money by tackling large numbers of homes in single contracts rather than home by home.

Funding of €5 million has been ring-fenced for local authorities to start, and in some cases continue, to transition from a largely response and voids-based approach to the maintenance of local authority housing stock to a planned maintenance approach based on planned work programmes informed by stock condition surveys.However, as acknowledged, the Department is working with the relevant local authority, Longford County Council, to support additional funding requirements this year.