James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 364: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of empty housing units, both habitable and derelict or dilapidated in County Longford, including Longford town; the reason the situation with these units has been allowed to develop; the action he proposes to take to resolve the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34585/10]

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 365: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of empty housing units, both habitable and derelict or dilapidated in County Westmeath, including the towns of Mullingar and Athlone; the reason the situation with these units has been allowed to develop; the action he proposes to take to resolve the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34586/10]

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 364 and 365 together.

As part of its comprehensive response to the issue of unfinished or unoccupied estates, my Department has undertaken, with the co-operation of local authorities and other key stakeholders, a national inventory on a county by county basis to quantify, classify and map the various types of unfinished or unoccupied estates so as to facilitate a better understanding of the scale and extent of the problem. The survey, which was conducted over the months May to September, involved site visits by Departmental housing inspectors to every estate built or granted permission in the last few years.

Together with my colleague, Minister of State Finneran, I will shortly be publishing the results of this survey, along with proposed measures to address difficulties on specific sites in a co-ordinated and pro-active manner. The responses will require a range of interventions across a number of disciplines – there are issues of public safety, the provision of bonds and securities, environmental protection, building control and estate management. When published, the survey results will provide details of the scale and location of vacant or unfinished housing units in newly-constructed estates on a city and county basis.