The Government has been accused of passing the responsibility for the provision of affordable housing onto councils, with councillors in the country’s largest local authority claiming that a key state strategy for building homes lacks clarity.

The lack of approval from Irish Water is preventing Cork County Council “taking in charge” 74 housing estates.

A total of 681 disabled people are currently on Cork County Council’s approved list for housing, according to figures released by the local authority.

They were praised for selfless acts during Storm Ophelia and during Storm Emma, but fears have been raised about the declining number of Civil Defence volunteers in Cork city and county.

Cork County Council may use grass cuttings from verges and its unused land stock as biofuel to provide power to houses.

Cork County Council officials have been told that drones and extra covert cameras should be deployed in the growing battle against illegal dumping.

As the ‘Beast from the East’ fast approaches, Cork County Council is not only preparing for polar conditions but is also worried about the cost as the Government does not properly reimburse it for the damage such weather events can cause.

Cork County Council is not buying the right type of private houses for those on the waiting list and should be building major social housing schemes itself to address the current housing crisis.

Rural parts of Co Cork are rapidly ageing as young people cannot build houses because planning guidelines are too restrictive.

Cork County Council has investigated 444 complaints about alleged “neighbours from hell” in the past three years in its southern division alone. It has repossessed 21 homes from antisocial tenants.

One of the most iconic theatre venues in the south of the country may not re-open until December 2019.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) may have to revisit the drawing board on a proposed flood-prevention scheme, after reportedly failing to factor in flooding incidents during a cost-benefit analysis.

The housing crisis has deepened in Co Cork, with an additional 540 applicants joining the county council’s waiting list in the past year.

Homeowners in Co Cork will not have to pay increased Local Property Tax (LPT) next year after the majority of councillors voted to maintain the status quo.

Not one of the 205 people taken on by Cork County Council through the government’s Gateway scheme got permanent employment with the local authority.

The majority of Cork county councillors see the proposed extension of the city boundary as being nothing more than a “money grab” which could put rural areas at a serious disadvantage in the future.

Gangs of criminals from Dublin and Limerick which have targeted rural areas of Cork will now be tracked by new CCTV technology which is being installed in the town of Macroom.

Over €6.2m was paid out last year by Cork County Council in relation to claims for personal injuries and damages to vehicles, in particular.

A statutory inspection has revealed an alarmingly high number of private rented properties in Cork county were potential death traps.

Cork County Council had to fix 375 leaks at newly installed water meters last year and get an additional 80 meter boxes replaced, because they were faulty.

Cork County Councillors are to write to different agencies and Government departments to try to fast-track the building of a 5,000-home new town to alleviate the housing crisis.

Cork County Council is planning to purchase a number of solar-powered speed warning signs for its own use and is also prepared to subsidise communities who want to buy them.

Cork County Council turned down offers from Nama to purchase 106 houses because they were located in areas where there was no demand.

Private housing estates should pay 35% less local property tax (LPT), because they do not receive the same services as estates looked after by local authorities.

Millions of euro is being potentially lost each year on providing vital council services in Co Cork because hundreds of businesses are not paying rates due to a backlog in valuations by a government-run department.

Over €4.6m was spent by Cork County Council employing outside consultants last year, with more than half of that going on hiring experts to plan new roads.

A flood relief project screw-up has led to €100,000 being spent on a preliminary cost/benefit analysis to discover a proposed scheme, at a further €200,000, would not be value for money.

Proposals to send all 55 Cork county councillors to European Union training sessions in Brussels, at a cost of tens of thousands of euro, have been sharply criticised as the hard-up local authority cannot afford to improve many of its basic services.

Cork County Council will have to cut services because it is going to be left with a €1.9m deficit in its budget after major multinationals got their rates reduced.

A mother and her two young children are living in a storage space in an attic provided by her parents after the young family had to leave their home due to soaring rents.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Seamus McGrath has been elected as the new mayor of County Cork after defeating Sinn Féin’s Michael ‘Frick’ Murphy by 29 votes to seven.

A county councillor in Cork has claimed the local authority “could do more” to tackle the current housing crisis, by building on its own existing housing-zoned landbanks of nearly 130 acres.

Hundreds of people who signed up to shared ownerships schemes could be in for a windfall as Cork County Council is to ask the Government to relax the repayment systems.

Cork Opera House is to get a grant of €170,000 from Cork County Council despite objections from some councillors who felt it should not receive any more handouts as it is in profit.

Cork County Council has been forced to sell homes owned by people in shared ownership schemes which were repossessed after they fell behind in their mortgage repayments.

County councillors have voted unanimously to notify Bord Pleanála of their total opposition to Indaver Ireland’s plan to build a €160m incinerator in Cork harbour.

Nine out of 10 privately rented properties in Cork county have failed to meet recommended living standards.

Cork County Council will provide 1,217 new local authority homes by the end of 2017, according to its chief executive.

Plans will have to be revisited for thousands of proposed new homes in Co Cork after it emerged that areas designated for future development were flooded during the winter storms.