Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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46. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to acquire distressed properties from vulture funds for social and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18470/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department supports local authorities and approved housing bodies to acquire properties for social housing use through a range of funding methods and from a range of vendors.

In 2015, local authorities acquired over 1,000 new properties in transactions ranging from individual units to large blocks of units.  In addition, with support from the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme and the Capital Assistance Scheme, approved housing bodies acquired over 600 units that have been made available for social housing purposes either through outright purchase or long term lease arrangements with a range of local authorities.

This support for the acquisition of new social housing across all funding programmes is continuing in 2016 and delivers homes for immediate use for those on the waiting list.