Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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471. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason the Army has refused to sell a house to a tenant (details supplied) despite having agreed to the sale on several occasions; and if the army will be instructed to proceed with the sale. [22312/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that my Department was not in a position to dispose of the property referred to because of legal difficulties in relation to the site.

After taking all matters into consideration and based on the legal advices my Department had no alternative but to withdraw from the offer of sale. Those who were offered the opportunity to purchase were informed in writing, through their legal advisers, of the sale withdrawal in November 2018. As part of this communication, my Department indicated its intention to regularise the current occupancy of those effected. A draft licence was issued through legal representatives for their agreement and this matter is ongoing and is the subject of continued legal correspondence.

My Department seeks to continue to regularise Overholding matters without recourse to legal action where possible. However, the provision of housing for members of the public is a matter in the first instance for the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and my Department assists in any way it can in support of such applications for assistance, when requested to do so.

In these circumstances, I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to comment further.