Labour's spokesperson on Housing and Planning, Jan O'Sullivan, has called on the government to carry out an audit in its Action Plan to find out exactly where the vacant properties are and who owns them.
She also called for funding allocated to the Housing Agency to be increased, as proposed in Focus Ireland's pre-budget submission.
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She said: "The 2016 Census tells us that there are more than 198,000 vacant dwellings in Ireland, excluding holiday homes, while the number of people homeless is growing day by day. While building new houses, in both the public and private sectors is, rightly, being accelerated, existing vacant dwellings can, and must, be a quick win and a real solution for those families who have no home or are at risk of losing theirs.
"While there is no doubt that only a functioning construction sector will deliver the number of homes needed on an on-going basis, using the houses we have has to be an immediate priority."
(CD/LM)
