Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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219. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of long-term voids to be returned to social housing use under the new arrangements outlined in his Social Housing Strategy 2010; if he will provide in tabular form the location of these voids by local authority; the timeframe by year for returning these voids to use; and the average cost per unit per local authority and per year of returning these voids to social housing use. [3016/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Social Housing Strategy 2020outlines that the funding for work by local authorities to return vacant social housing units to productive use in 2015 and onwards will be linked to local authorities putting in place ongoing maintenance programmes to address the issue of vacant properties. Funding made available under Budget 2015 will see 1,000 vacant units being returned to productive use this year and will be allocated on an equitable and evidence-based system, adjudicated and weighted based on the priorities submitted by local authorities, the degree of local housing need, the current numbers of vacant units, the length of time properties have been vacant and the cost effectiveness of the proposal. The funding provided by my Department has been to a limit of €30,000 per unit.