Department head 'unhappy' about housing charity leaving hotel it bought empty for three years

Secretary general of the Housing Department, Graham Doyle, told the Public Accounts Committee,  the hotel had been funded by his department before the difficulties at the housing charity had emerged. File picture: gov.ie

The head of the Department of Housing has acknowledged he is “unhappy” with a situation which saw the Peter McVerry Trust purchase a Dublin hotel for €6.2m which has lain vacant for the past three years.

Secretary general of the department, Graham Doyle, told the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that the funding for the hotel had been part obtained via his department. He said it is “working through” the options in terms of actioning the vacant building for social housing.