Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 910: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the large number of residential and commercial buildings which have been left vacant and idle throughout the country, particularly in town centres; if there are plans to encourage the use of these building for the benefit of the community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22959/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I am aware of information regarding vacant dwellings, published by the Central Statistics Office as part of the 2006 Census results which, I understand, was derived from analysis of cases where Census forms were not received from dwellings by enumerators. The total number of dwellings reported vacant by CSO on this basis on the Census night, 23 April 2006, was 266,000. This represented around 15% of the overall housing stock, which is slightly lower than the EU average according to data published by the International Monetary Fund and well below the reported vacancy rate reported in some individual States.

I understand that an estimated 50,000 of the dwellings reported vacant at the 2006 Census were reported by CSO to be holiday homes. The remaining 216,000 represent about 12% of the total housing stock. Dwellings can be vacant at any given time for a variety of reasons and a significant level of vacancy can be expected in a dynamic society experiencing significant mobility and demographic change.

An important element of the Government's housing policy is to promote the availability of an adequate supply of housing to meet demand and provide support to those who cannot meet their accommodation needs without assistance, as outlined in the Government's housing policy statement Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities. My Department will continue to keep developments in the housing market, including trends in housing supply, under review in consultation with other relevant agencies.

My Department has no role in relation to the compilation of information on the extent of vacant commercial property and I have no specific information in regard to this matter.

Insofar as the availability of community facilities is concerned, in line with the recommendation in the Task Force Report on Active Citizenship, an audit of community, sports and arts facilities at local level is currently being undertaken by each county and city council, under the auspices of the relevant County/City Development Board.