Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing applicants on the local authority waiting list in a town (details supplied) in County Kerry; the number of vacant houses available under different schemes in this area; his plans for these houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31348/12]

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of housing applicants on all local authority waiting lists in County Kerry; the total number of vacant houses available under the various schemes in the county; his plans for these houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31389/12]

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of housing applicants on the local authority waiting list at a location (details supplied) in County Kerry; the total number of vacant houses available under various schemes in this area; his plans for these houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31392/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 167, 169 and 171 together.

Information on the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists or information in relation to the number of vacant houses available for social letting at any given time is not available in my Department. The number of households on waiting lists continuously fluctuates according as households are allocated housing and new households apply for housing support. Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need carried out in March 2011, including a breakdown by housing authority, is available on my Department's website www.environ.ie and on the Housing Agency's website at www.housing.ie. Local authorities provide information on the proportion of stock that is vacant at the end of each year and this information is collated and published as part of the annual Service Indicators in Local Authorities Report. Copies of the 2010 report are available from the Local Government Management Services Board and may be downloaded from their website (www.lgmsb.ie ).

Under my Department's Social Housing Investment Programme, local authorities are allocated capital funding each year in respect of a range of measures to improve the standard and overall quality of their social housing stock, including the regeneration of large social housing estates and flat complexes, estate wide remedial works schemes, a retrofitting measure to improve the energy efficiency of older apartments and houses and funding for extensions and adaptations to meet the needs of tenants with a disability etc. Given the constraints on capital budgets for new stock, my Department has in recent years placed a greater emphasis on local authority social housing improvement works programmes and on the early return of vacant units to productive use.

A total of €18 million is being provided this year for improving the quality and energy efficiency of older housing stock. Beginning in 2011, my Department required local authorities to focus the energy retrofitting programme on bringing vacant stock back into productive use. The 2012 programme will build on the achievements of 2011 when more than 2,600 vacant units were refurbished and made available for re-letting. While local authorities may undertake work on tenanted properties, there is a continuing focus on making vacant properties available for re-letting as quickly as possible. Grants of up to €15,000 per house are generally available for improving the fabric of the house with a further grant of up to €3,000 where additional essential works are needed. Over the course of 2010 and 2011 a total of 4,492 houses were improved. I intend to review the operation of the Social Housing Improvement Works Programme, including the energy efficiency measure, with a view to possible changes aimed at improving the targeting and overall effectiveness of the various measures.