TD wants 'every council house returned in 12 weeks' with 150 vacant homes in Cork

Mr Gould said changes were needed to allow local authorities, rather than waiting for the Department of Housing to give the go-ahead, to be able to work returning homes throughout the year

Mr Gould said that boarded-up houses have 'devastating effects' in communities where families are 'coming out every day looking at them'. Picture: @frank_oconnor /X/Stock

Vacant council homes should be made available to move into within 12 weeks, a Cork TD has said as he hit out at the levels of vacancy across the county.

Figures released to Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould show that nearly 800 council homes in Ireland have been vacant for over a year.  Some 150 houses are currently vacant in Cork county — with 36 empty for longer than 12 months. In the city, 99 homes have been vacant for longer than two years.