Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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1082. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of vacant or derelict properties identified in County Meath; and the number of these that have been brought back into use under the croí cónaithe or related schemes. [59103/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Addressing vacancy and dereliction is a key priority for Government.

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: www.gov.ie/en/publication/df86c-vacant-homes-action-plan-2023-2026/

Data in relation to vacant properties is available from a number of sources such as the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Census 2022 and GeoDirectory.

The CSO has recently developed a new statistical release on residential vacancy. The release, published on 24 September 2025, provides information on the extent of residential vacancy in 2022 and 2023, using ESB data on metered residential electricity consumption, with future regular publications planned.

In the release, the CSO note a national vacancy rate of 3.3% at the end of Q4 2023, down from 3.6% in Q4 2022. Data is provided at a national, local authority and local electoral level, including for Meath County Council.

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; a local authority breakdown is also provided.

My Department has also supported local authorities to collate data on vacant and derelict properties in settlements in their administrative areas. Almost all local authorities, including Meath County Council, 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. Data is provided on the number of properties on Derelict Sites Registers in Meath in 2022 and 2023. My Department is currently engaged with all local authorities in the process of collecting and collating the 2024 annual returns.

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

One of the key measures in the Vacant Homes Action Plan supporting the refurbishment of older, vacant and derelict buildings for housing is the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. The grant can provide up to €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties for use as homes and up to €70,000 where the property is derelict.

The grant has been, and continues to be, very successful in bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use and making the refurbishment of these properties an affordable option for buyers across the country.

My Department publishes data on the grant on its website on a quarterly basis, providing breakdowns by local authority. This data can be accessed at the following link: .