Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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195. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of void local authority units that have been brought back into use as a result of funding schemes from his Department for this specific purpose in each of the years 2013 to 2016; the system of monitoring the is in place to ensure that each local authority uses the scheme effectively to address the shortage of housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22991/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The current programme to support local authorities to return vacant social housing units to productive use commenced in 2014 and in that year and in 2015, my Department provided €60 million to support local authorities in returning over 5,000 vacant units to productive use. The programme for 2016 will see in excess of €24 million being provided for the remediation of a further 1,500 units.

My Department has recently implemented a new Exchequer funding programme alongside this programme to support local authorities in remediating more seriously derelict social houses; €8.5 million allocated under this programme will see approximately 170 units retrofitted and returned to productive use.

Submissions received from local authorities under these programmes are assessed by my Department. Funding is provided on the basis that the units are occupied immediately following works , with priority given to homeless families to the fullest extent possible and on the basis that no previous public funding has been provided in recent years for similar works on the units. It is also a requirement that photographic evidence (before/after) and post works BER data is provided.

Funding provided by my Department under the programmes to tackle vacant and derelict social housing units is on top of normal pre-letting works undertaken by local authorities. Many other vacated social units are repaired as part of the normal maintenance work that local authorities carry out continuously on their housing stock funded from their own resources.

The strong level of funding provided by my Department and the work undertaken by local authorities in tackling the backlog of vacant units that had accumulated has resulted in a reduced rate (1-2%) of vacancy reported by some local authorities.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of Part V units that have been acquired by each local authority in each of the years 2014 to 2016 to date; the average price of these units broken down by county, unit size and development size in three categories, developments of 50 units or less, developments of more than 50 units and fewer than 100 units and developments of more than100 units; and the number of Part V units across the State for each year at the average cost to the State of these units for each year. [23015/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The table available at the link below sets out the number of units acquired by local authorities in 2014, under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, based on returns made to my Department. The 2015 data are being finalised and will be placed on my Department’s website shortly, while information in relation to 2016 will be available next year.

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My Department provided funding of € 3,519,069 in respect of Part V acquisitions for social housing purposes in the period 2014 to end-June 2016 for 39 units of accommodation. The average cost of providing these units was some €90,000, with the unit sizes being mainly 1 and 2 bed units. Information relating to development sizes in each instance isnot readily available in my Department.