Government failing to act on State property vacancy – Bacik
Government failing to act on State property vacancy – Bacik - The Labour Party
Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD has today called on this Government to act immediately and unlock vacant State-owned buildings and sites for housing, warning that continued inaction is deepening the housing emergency and leaving families, workers and children without secure homes.
Speaking at Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this afternoon, Deputy Bacik challenged An Taoiseach on the State’s failure to act on extensive vacancy across public property portfolios, and called for urgent, coordinated delivery of homes using assets already in public ownership.
Deputy Bacik said:
“Families are struggling to find a secure place to live, children are growing up in emergency accommodation, and workers on decent wages are being locked out of home ownership altogether. Every week my office hears from people who are losing hope in the face of spiralling rents, shrinking supply and a system that seems designed to benefit institutional investors rather than ordinary households.
“This Government has known for years that public bodies are sitting on large numbers of vacant properties that could be converted into homes. In October 2023, it emerged that the HSE owned over two hundred vacant buildings and sites, many of them marked surplus to requirements. At that point, nearly four thousand children were homeless. Today, more than five thousand children are without a home. The crisis has intensified, yet delivery has stalled.
“The Taoiseach’s response in the Dáil today was deeply disappointing. Rather than engaging with the substance of the issue, he deflected responsibility to local authorities, accused the Opposition of spin, and failed to outline any plan to activate State-owned properties for housing. There was no sense of urgency, no acknowledgement of the scale of the problem, and no acceptance of Government responsibility for coordinating action across public bodies.
“An example in Dublin Bay South of this stark failure is the former Baggot Street Hospital which remains vacant. Despite repeated calls to use the site for housing, healthcare workers’ accommodation or refugee housing, it has not even been formally offered to the Land Development Agency, and parts of it are now being sold on the private market without regard to the common good. This is emblematic of a wider pattern across the State.
“Labour is calling for an immediate, coordinated national effort to identify, transfer and activate vacant State-owned properties for housing, with clear timelines and accountability. Public assets must be used in the public interest. When I challenged the Taoiseach to provide a clear timeline for the introduction of the Government’s promised Derelict Property Tax, he could not even do so. Children deserve stable homes, workers deserve a fair chance to buy or rent, and communities deserve action, not deflection. The Government must act now.”