David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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54. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has estimated the number properties that are vacant in the State that could be used for housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37013/24]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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66. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way his Department is working with the Department of Finance on the administration of the vacant property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37014/24]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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110. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will report on the operation of the Croí Cónaithe scheme; the uptake of the scheme in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36749/24]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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This is an opportunity for the Minister to give some information to Members of the House on the number of vacant properties that could be used for housing in this State, or an estimation to that effect. That includes commercial properties. Second, how is the Department working with the Department of Finance on the administration of the vacant property tax? Is there an overall view of what the figures are to date?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 , 66 and 110 together.

Tackling vacancy is a key priority for this Government. The vacant homes action plan, which was published in January 2023, built on pathway 4 of Housing for All and set out the various actions that were being pursued to return vacant properties back into use as homes. Earlier this year, the Minister published an update on the action plan, which shows the significant progress that is being made. Data regarding vacant properties is available from a number of sources such as census and GeoDirectory publications. More recently, the CSO has published an indicator of residential vacancy using electricity consumption data. My Department has engaged with the CSO regarding this indicator. While varying levels and rates of vacancy are indicated in the different data sources, the overall trend is downwards and vacancy levels in residential properties are reducing. It is a very different picture in terms of vacant commercial properties. A vacancy survey project, supported by my Department, commenced in December 2022. Its objective is to provide local authorities with a database of vacant and derelict properties in their administrative area, which they can update on an ongoing basis and use to engage with property owners to bring them back into use as homes. This also supports local authorities in taking a proactive, systematic and co-ordinated approach to the activation of vacant and derelict properties, which is required under the new compulsory purchase order, CPO, activation programme, which my Department launched in April 2023. The programme includes guidance and supports for local authorities to actively use their legislative powers to compulsorily acquire vacant and derelict properties where engagement with owners has been unsuccessful in activating the return of the property to use. It is a complex process, but good progress is certainly being made across all local authorities in this regard.

Another one of the suite of measures introduced to address vacancy by this Government is the vacant home tax introduced in budget 2023. The tax applies to residential properties that are occupied for less than 30 days in a 12-month period. The tax aims to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase, rather than focusing on simply raising revenue. As is the case for other taxes, the vacant home tax is administered and collected by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. My Department does not have a role in the administration of this tax. However, my officials are in regular contact with the Department of Finance regarding policy on addressing vacancy and the vacant homes action plan.

The vacant property refurbishment grant, under the Croí Cónaithe towns fund, is another important measure in supporting the return of vacant and derelict properties into use. A grant to the value of €50,000 is available for the refurbishment of vacant properties into a home or rental property, with a top-up grant of €20,000 available for derelict properties. More than 9,600 grant applications have been received to date with more than 6,400 approved. The number of grants drawn down has increased significantly this year and more than 737 grants have been paid nationwide. We expect that to ramp up significantly toward the end of this year.

The level of interest in the grant in Cork has been significant, with the county having the highest number of applications received nationally. Between Cork city and county, in excess of 1,100 applications have been received, more than 820 applications approved and 66 grants paid to date. This number of grants issued is expected to increase significantly in the coming months as refurbishment works are completed. My Department publishes data on the grant on its website on a quarterly basis, which includes breakdowns by local authority. I will arrange for the relevant web link to be circulated with the Official Record. The grant is making a real impact in addressing vacancy and is making the purchase and refurbishment of these properties a more affordable option for those seeking to purchase their own home. I will come back in with a supplementary reply on the local authority purchase and renovation loan, which again, is another measure that is proving to be transformative.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response and recognise the work that is being carried out here. Does he have any figures with respect of how many actual properties are vacant in the State in the moment that could be used for housing from this database? Is that database publicly available? Will he comment on the top-up grant for derelict properties? We have numbers for the vacant property refurbishment grant, but how many of those also include the top-grant? How many applications are for the vacant property refurbishment grant on its own? Will the Minister of State please get those figures per county for me? Could he comment on the role of the vacant homes officers? The Oireachtas is making money available to fund those at local authority level. Is there a condition attached to that funding that those roles will be exclusively focused on vacant properties and nothing else?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The GeoDirectory database for quarter 2 2024 classifies 82,031 dwellings as vacant on a national vacancy rate of 3.9%. This remains a record low. The report showed that vacancy rates had decreased in 19 counties.

The database published worrying figures for commercial vacancy. There are crisis levels of vacancy in many towns and villages across the country. In County Sligo, it is 20.5%; County Donegal, 19.4%; County Galway, 18.5%; County Limerick, 17.5%; and County Leitrim 17.5%. This is of real concern and this is something that local authorities, collectively with town teams, need to get a handle on, along with the town centre first officers that have been put in place, as well as vacancy officers. That is a hugely important piece of work that needs to be addressed. If that requires using a bit of creativity around bring commercial premises back into full occupancy and looking at returning shops to full occupancy, issues like that should be given consideration. We see pilots but that needs to be ramped up. We are seeing huge changes across retail and these are the resulting figures.

Separately, on the rural vacant properties, we will get back to the Deputy on that. I do not have the data relating to the top-up grant but as I said, the 730 grants have been paid out and we anticipate a very significant level of drawdown. The heritage side of our Department has put an additional grant in place with regard to conservation advice, particularly for older, traditional buildings.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Could the Minister of State let me know at some stage which local authorities are using the funding provided by the Oireachtas to fund vacant homes officers? Which of those are doing that exclusively so that, for example, the vacant homes job is not number ten on a list of other works they have got to do? Is that a condition attached to the funding we are providing to the local authorities? My sense is that these vacant homes officers are doing ten other jobs as well, and that should not be the case.

The Minister of State mentioned that his Department works with Revenue and the Department of Finance. Could he comment on the response I received from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Chambers in June? He told me that 6,400 properties have been declared vacant, and approximately 3,700 of those have a liability to the vacant homes tax. That is a long way away from the 82,000 that the Minister of State just commented on there, which I assume are just homes. Why is there such a huge discrepancy? I know it is self-declared but surely we are missing a trick in this regard in that if we had a link between the two Departments, we could actually gather more tax and encourage people to carry out work.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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The Minister of State has pointed to a reduction in other counties. That is not the case in Clare, which has a huge vacancy rate. Shannon, once again, had the highest rate of commercial vacancy in the county at 29.8%, which is the highest in Munster and the third highest nationwide. It is unchanged again for a second year in Kilrush at 24.5%. There is no hotel there and has not been for many years. GeoDirectory shows that both towns are well above average when it comes to empty industrial buildings. Shannon and Dublin are at the national average of 14%, and Kilrush is at 10%. Meanwhile, Clare County Council will say that there is too much competition for accommodation in the county to source and create, for example, emergency accommodation or the likes of Clann Nua for the likes of Kilrush town.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I note the comments made by Deputy Wynne.

On the figures I have for Cork city and county, Cork county has 747 applications received for the vacant property refurbishment grant, with 478 approved and 76 rejected, and 26 grants have been paid out on completion of works. The figures for Clare are 401 received, 234 approved, 31 rejected and 16 paid out on completion of works. Again, I wish to highlight the local authority purchase and renovation loan, which gives a bridging loan to make up the difference of the grant that can be paid back on completion of works.

Specifically on the question raised by Deputy Stanton, the vacant homes officer role is in every local authority and is a full-time, exclusive role to work specifically on vacant homes. The Deputy is shaking his head but that is the job description and that is their job. It is an important job. Their role is to work with the town centre first officer and the town teams, if the town team is established in each local authority area. It is vitally important that the role is specifically for that purpose in each local authority. It is critically important that this be their job because there is a huge task of work ahead in that regard.