Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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154. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of empty local authority housing units in counties Sligo and Leitrim at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12217/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Statistics in relation to social housing stock are gathered by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their annual reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. These statistics are set out by local authority and include the percentage of such dwellings that were vacant at the end of the year, with the last year for which the statistics are available being 2015. This report is available at the following link: .

The ongoing management of its social housing stock, including dealing with vacant units, is a matter in the first place for each individual local authority. However, funding support from my Department to local authorities in recent years, including to Sligo and Leitrim County Councils, has assisted the return of vacant social stock to productive use, in an energy efficient condition.

While this focussed effort on dealing with vacant social housing has been of notable benefit, there will always be a level of vacant houses at any given point in time, as would be expected in the management of the thousands of homes owned by local authorities.