Almost 70 properties across Ireland owned by OPW left vacant amid housing crisis, Dáil told

It includes several former Garda stations, including three in Cork, and eight homes and a site at the former Coast Guard site at Crosshaven

The properties that are currently lying vacant include 16 former Garda stations across the country, including three in Cork. File picture

Nearly 70 properties owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW) are lying vacant across the country in the midst of a housing crisis.

This includes several former Garda stations, including three in Cork, and eight homes and a site at the former Coast Guard site at Crosshaven.

However, the Office of Public Works told Aontú TD Paul Lawless it could not put a value on the vacant properties.

OPW minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran confirmed there were currently 69 surplus vacant properties owned by the OPW. This includes 50 buildings and 19 sites.

“The OPW does not obtain market values of surplus vacant properties/sites until these properties/sites are being prepared for disposal, by intra-State transfer or for sale on the open market,” he added.

Mr Moran also said the OPW had sold 55 properties or sites since 2023, generating income of €21.2m.

The properties that are currently lying vacant include 16 former Garda stations across the country, including three in Cork at Ballyfeard, Ballygurteen, and Castletownshend. All three stations closed in 2012.

Ballygurteen is being “prepared for disposal” in 2027, while Ballyfeard is sale-agreed. Alternative uses for the Castletownshend site are currently being examined.

A former Garda residence in Kealkill is also lying vacant as there are “title issues to be resolved prior to disposal”.

In Crosshaven, meanwhile, there are eight homes and a site at the former Coast Guard site lying empty that will be transferred to Cork County Council.

Some 12 sites are lying vacant across the country, with many of their futures still under consideration.

There are also 10 empty buildings, a former Met Station and site, and former customs sites and properties that are owned by the OPW currently empty.

Mr Lawless said it was “frustrating” that State-owned properties were lying idle during a housing crisis.

He noted that last year there were 3,779 vacant council houses in the country, more than enough to accommodate all the people currently homeless in Ireland.

“The length of time it takes for the OPW to sell or dispose of these properties is worrying." Mr Lawless said.

“State entities and local authorities need to recognise the housing crisis for the emergency that it is.”