Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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651. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the number of empty local authority housing units in Galway city; the length of time these units have been vacant; the reason which has been given in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11213/18]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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652. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding which has been made available to Galway City Council for repairs to local authority housing units; the amount drawn down by the city council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11214/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 651 and 652 together.

Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 provides that the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for each individual local authority in the first instance. This includes the implementation of planned maintenance programmes and carrying out of responsive and pre-letting repairs.

My Department does provide exchequer support to local authorities, through the Voids Programme introduced in 2014, to assist them in returning vacant and derelict social housing units to productive use. The programme allows local authorities to actively target vacant units and minimise their turnaround and re-let times. Between 2014 and 2017, funding of some €1.16m has been provided to Galway City Council, which brought 91 vacant houses back into productive use. Without substantial refurbishment under construction contracts, these social homes could have been left vacant and not part of the active social housing stock.

My Department does not keep data on the length of time a local authority dwelling is vacant. Statistics in relation to social housing are compiled by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in its 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 most recent report relating to 2016. This report is available at the following link

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The availability of exchequer funding from my Department provides key support to the local authorities, including Galway City Council, for their work in turning vacant units around as swiftly as possible.