Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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186. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of full-time vacant homes officers that are currently employed across Ireland; the target number of full-time vacant homes officers to be employed; his views on the role and importance of vacant homes officers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11573/22]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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207. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant housing officers employed on a full-time and part-time basis by local authority to help reduce vacancy levels; if these roles are exclusive to this work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12085/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 207 together.

In January 2022, my Department communicated with local authorities outlining that it is increasing the funding made available since 2018 from €50,000 to €60,000 per annum from mid-2022 to support the work of a Vacant Homes Office including a vacant homes officer to support the commitment in Housing for All to ensuring that vacant homes officers are full-time officers. Local authorities have been requested to arrange for the vacant homes officer position to become full-time by the end of Q2 2022 and to notify the Department accordingly. I expect that each local authority will have at least one full-time vacant homes officer working in their local authority. My Department understand that there are currently in the region of 3 full-time and 34 part-time vacant homes officers working in local authorities.

The provision of central funding reinforces the capacity of local authorities, including through the important role of vacant homes officers, to ensure a dedicated focus on tackling vacancy and dereliction with a view to increasing the opportunities for residential development.