Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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164. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the vacant homes unit established in 2017 in his Department; the different role this plays to the vacant homes unit currently being established in his Department; and the number of full-time staff employed in this original unit in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [22438/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Vacant Homes Unit, established in my Department, was responsible for the preparation of the National Vacant Housing Reuse Strategy published in 2018. This set out the high level objectives of the Vacant Homes Unit including the establishment and provision of funding to local authorities in order to establish a vacant homes office in each local authority area and also for Vacant Homes Officers who are responsible for driving implementation of the actions identified in the Reuse Strategy at local level.  Due to staff changes and other priorities within the planning area (such as the development of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund), the role of this Unit changed over the period.  Its role was reviewed last year in the context of Housing for All.

Housing for All provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of measures to achieve its policy objectives together with a financial commitment of in excess of €4 billion per annum.

In light of these priorities, my Department has decided that work on this pathway merits a separate dedicated Prinicipal Officer-led Unit.As part of this process the Unit is moving from the Planning Division to one of the Housing Divisions, and the staffing is being increased. The Unit will play a key part in delivering on the Government commitments under Housing for All, pathway four designed to tackle vacancy and ensure the more efficient use of our existing housing stock.

The Unit is currently working on a suite of measures under the pathway to addressing vacancy and efficient use of existing stock including:

- The Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund which will be delivered by local authorities for the provision of serviced sites for housing, to attract people to build their own homes and to support the refurbishment of vacant properties, enabling people to live in small towns and villages, in a sustainable way.

- Funding support for the work of the Vacant Homes Office in local authorities including a vacant homes officer to ensure that vacant homes officers are full-time officers.

- A new local authority-led programme to help Local Authorities buy or compulsory purchase 2,500 vacant homes in their areas which can then be sold on the open market to ensure their use as homes.

The full time staffing complement of the Vacant Homes Unit since its establishment is  set out in the table below:

* One Staff member at Assistant Principal Officer grade with plans underway to appoint a dedicated full-time Principal Officer (currently a Principal Officer involved part-time in this area) and further staffing.