Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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609. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he commenced the audit of vacant houses and apartments as announced in the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness; the way in which the audit will be carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25444/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Action 5.1 of the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness – Rebuilding Irelandundertakes to develop a National Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy by 2017. To this end, the Housing Agency is currently establishing a working group that will inform the Strategy, and the group will include senior representatives from my Department, from local authorities and from approved housing bodies (AHBs). My Department and the Housing Agency are liaising with local authorities and with the Central Statistics Office in order to obtain a better understanding of the numbers, characteristics and reasons why homes are vacant. A number of local authorities have commenced, or are planning to commence, pilot programmes to identify vacant homes and bring them back into use; these pilot programmes will inform the Strategy. In addition, the Strategy will be informed by international best practice and experience, and research is also being undertaken in this area.