Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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General statistics on local authority housing stock, including vacant social housing units, are published annually by the Local Government Management Agency. The most recent such statistics are the Service Indicators in Local Authorities 2013 which are available on the Agency’s website at the following link: www.lgma.ie/en/serviceindicators/2004to2013.

My Department is providing funding support to all local authorities, including Mayo County Council, to assist them in returning vacant social housing units to productive use. This funding is on top of work to deal with vacant units undertaken by local authorities from their own resources and it is not a substitute for the normal responsibilities of local authorities to maintain their social housing properties.

Mayo County Council returned 80 vacant units back into productive use in 2014, and the target for 2015 is 122,34 of which are being funded by my Department, with the remaining 88 being funded through resources provided by the Council itself. I am satisfied that both this support from my Department and the local authorities’ own resources are bringing significant improvements to the issue of vacant social houses and making them available to those on the waiting list as soon as possible.