Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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1727. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant social housing stock in each local authority area and as a proportion of overall social housing stock, in tabular form; and if he will report on his engagement with local authority executives to ensure that these voids are converted into use without delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44380/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Local authorities will always have a level of vacancy in their housing stock. This will fluctuate over time, as tenancy surrender and re-letting of stock is an ongoing process. Statistics in relation to social housing stock, at a point in time, are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in their Annual Reports on Performance Indicators in Local Authorities. The latest report available from 2023 would indicate that 2.81% of the social housing stock is vacant on average which is available on the NOAC website at the following like:

www.noac.ie/18-september-2024-local-authority-performance-indicator-report-2023/

I met with all local authorities Chief Executives and Directors of Housing at the recent Housing Summit, which took place on 11 June this year, where the issue of vacancy and allocation of housing was discussed. As part of the Programme for Government, consideration is being given to the introduction of a new Voids Programme with a view to further improve turnaround times of vacant social housing units. I and my Department and will continue to engage with the sector on this important issue.