400 HSE buildings lying unused across the country 

HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said 'if the Department of Children wishes to avail of any properties' he would be happy to listen. Picture: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

Some 20% of the HSE’s property portfolio is currently vacant, with as many as 400 buildings lying unused across the country, a Dáil committee has heard.

HSE chief financial officer Stephen Mulvany told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that of the more than 2,000 properties on the HSE’s portfolio, roughly 400 “of all different shapes and sizes” are vacant.