Minister: Cork County Council must 'get the finger out' if it needs vacant housing officers

Junior minister Kieran O’Donnell was responding in the Dáil when Cork East TD David Stanton said he was 'amazed' the local authority had not applied for the funding

Minister of state for local government Kieran O’Donnell told the Dáil the onus is on local authorities to make the case for funding for vacant housing officers. File picture

A Government minister has questioned Cork County Council’s failure to apply for more vacant property officers, despite funding being available and its chief executive saying one is needed in every town.

Minister of state for local government Kieran O’Donnell said the council needs to “get the finger out” and apply for more staff where needed.

Around one in 25 homes in the country is vacant, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has estimated, based on metered electricity consumption.

After last year’s census, the CSO said there were nearly 167,000 vacant houses and apartments.

Of those, nearly 48,500 homes vacant in 2016 were still vacant in 2022, while 23,500 were vacant in 2011, 2016, and 2022.

There were also 105,000 homes that were vacant in 2016 but occupied in 2022, and 86,000 dwellings occupied in 2016 but vacant in 2022, it said after the April census.

Cork East Fine Gael TD David Stanton told the Dáil that Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey has previously said that “he would need a vacant homes officer for every town in the county”.

Mr Stanton said he was “amazed” to hear the local authority has not availed of the funding for new posts.

There are now officers in place across all 31 local authorities except Donegal.

Cork County Council, the biggest local authority in the country by geographical size and the second largest entity overall, should have more than one, Mr Stanton said. 

Mr O’Donnell said that the onus is on the local authority to make the case, and added: 

If a request is made and we agree to it, it will be up to the local authorities to be proactive and to make applications.

“If they are complaining to Deputy Stanton that the resources are not in place and if he gets a commitment from the Government that the resources are there then I am sorry but the local authority needs to get the finger out and make the application,” he said.

Mr Stanton told the Irish Examiner that he has written to Mr Lucey since it was discussed in the Dáil.

“This is low-hanging fruit that could make a real difference in bringing vacant properties back to life,” he said. “I am reliably informed that one town in Cork alone has 100 vacant properties.

“We must be more proactive in encouraging local authorities to make the business case for getting to grips with the problem.

East Cork TD David Stanton told the 'Irish Examiner' he has written to Cork County Council CEO Tim Lucey since his Dáil exchange with junior minister Kieran O’Donnell. File picture: Brian Lougheed

“It’s win-win, bringing town centres back to life and making more homes available for people amidst the housing crisis.”

Some 1,250 applications have been made to the Government’s vacant home revamp grant scheme across the country in the nine months since it began. The scheme, Croí Cónaithe, was launched in July for properties in towns and villages and expanded in November to cities and other rural areas.

It provides up to €30,000 in grants for people to restore a vacant property to live in as their main home.

If a property is derelict, that grant rises to €50,000.

This is along with up to nearly €27,000 in further grants potentially available from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Cork County Council did not respond to requests for comment on Mr O’Donnell and Mr Stanton’s Dáil exchange.