Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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265. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of voids or vacant local authority dwellings for Cork City Council and Cork County Council at present; if sufficient funding has been granted to both authorities to repair these properties in order that they can be made available to persons on the social housing list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23863/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The number of vacant social housing properties owned by both Cork City Council and Cork County Council changes on an ongoing basis, as the local authorities have social units handed back and as units are re-let. Ongoing changes in these numbers would be expected in the context of the management of large volumes of social housing stock. Further information on precise levels of stock at any one time is available directly from both authorities. Since commencing the current programme of funding in 2014, to support local authorities in returning vacant social housing units to productive use , my Department has provided €11 million combined to Cork City Council and Cork County Council, to support over 850 vacant homes to be returned to use. The programme for 2016 will see an additional 220 units remediated across the two Cork authorities at an expected cost of some € 5.5 million. Further vacant units may arise for remediation over the course of the year from the two authorities and my Department will liaise with both authorities on the further provision of funding.

My Department’s funding to local authorities under this programme is on the basis that all remediated social housing units are tenanted straightaway, with priority in allocation given to homeless families to the fullest extent possible. Furthermore, this funding from my Department is on top of the normal pre-letting works undertaken by local authorities themselves on vacant units. 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 the local authorities in tackling the backlog of vacant units that had accumulated has resulted in individual local authorities reporting a reduced rate of vacancy of 1-2% of their overall stock. Between the funding supports available from my Department and the efforts of local authorities themselves, I am satisfied that both local authorities in Cork are in a position to ensure that all social housing units for which there is a housing need can be returned to use.

More broadly in relation to dealing with vacant social housing stock, the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, sets out commitments in line with best asset management practices, which will see all local authorities operating to a national re-letting performance standard and making greater use of a preventative maintenance approach to housing stock management.