Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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1131. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant and derelict properties in counties Longford and Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44857/25]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1193. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number and composition of vacant properties in each LEA in County Offaly for the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45741/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1234. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the number of registered derelict or vacant housing properties in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46170/25]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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1301. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant homes currently lying empty, per county, in tabular form. [47283/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1131, 1193, 1234 and 1301 together.

The Vacant Homes Action Plan, published in January 2023, set out the various actions being pursued to return vacant properties back into use as homes. In March, I published the 2025 Progress Report which shows the significant progress that is being made and it is available on my Department's website at the following link: gov - Vacant Homes Action Plan 2023-2026 (www.gov.ie). 

Data in relation to vacant properties is available from a number of sources such as the CSO Census and GeoDirectory publications. In the latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report for Q2 2025, the average vacancy rate across Ireland had dropped to 3.7%, the lowest rate recorded since 2013.

The CSO is currently developing a publication which will provide information on the extent of residential vacancy in 2022 and 2023, based on metred residential electricity consumption using data provided to the CSO by the ESB.

My Department has also supported local authorities to collate data on vacant and derelict properties in their administrative areas. Almost all local authorities, including Offaly, Longford and Westmeath, now have a database of vacant properties which they can update on an ongoing basis. The database is not intended to be a comprehensive count of every vacant and derelict property in their administrative area. It is used by the local authority to engage with property owners and work with them to bring those properties back into use.

Under section 8 of the Derelict Sites Act 1990, a local authority is obliged to maintain a Derelict Sites Register and shall enter on to the register the particulars of any land in their functional area which, in their opinion, is a derelict site. Under Section 23 of the Act, local authorities may apply a Derelict Sites Levy (DSL), on an annual basis, for sites entered on the derelict sites register on the 1 January of that year. With effect from January 2020, the Derelict Sites Levy was increased from 3% to 7% of the market valuation of relevant sites. Where a Derelict Site Levy, or any portion of it, is due and owing, the amount of the levy including interest due remains a charge on the site until it has been paid. 1,913 properties were listed nationally on the local authority Derelict Site Registers as of 31 December 2023.

While varying levels and rates of vacancy are indicated in the different data sources, the overall trend is downwards and vacancy levels are reducing.

I firmly believe that the commitment Government has made to addressing vacancy and dereliction and the actions taken will continue to play a vital role in delivering homes and across the country.