THERE ARE 228 Council-owned vacant houses across Limerick city and county. That’s according to data provided under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Aontú party leader Peader Tóibín.
Information provided to the Meath West TD under a series of FOI requests to Councils nationwide showed more then 3,500 local authority houses across Ireland are vacant, with Dublin City Council leading the pack with 712 vacant homes, while Cork City Council has 350.
127 empty homes were reported in Galway.
This comes as there are 100,000 people nationally on housing waiting lists, with 2,485 of those in Limerick according to figures provided to Aontú.
Responding to the figures, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar claimed that Council houses are “generally vacant for a reason”, whether they are being refurbished or earmarked for demolition and replacement.
Local Aontú campaigner Sarah Beasley says the current figure of vacant homes compared to those on housing waiting lists is “unforgivable”.
“It’s unacceptable that local authorities nationally are sitting on vacant houses in the teeth of this housing crisis, emergency, and disaster,” the Limerick campaigner said.
‘’Just as the government is about to introduce a levy on vacant homes, we can confirm that the State is the biggest hoarder in terms of empty homes in Ireland, that is unforgivable.’’
