Departmental Properties Dail Éireann — 2026-05-07 ============================================================ Brian Stanley (IND), Laois I take it from the response that there has been some progress. The Minister referred to 63 but my information is that up to 80 properties are in a derelict state. Soldiers are travelling distances to work, and many travel from County Laois. There are also retired soldiers, some of whom, unfortunately, end up in difficult housing situations. It is important these properties are put back into use. We cannot have vacant homes of any kind lying empty, given the housing crisis. Has there been liaison with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the issue? I would make one point about the consultants and the report. The Minister and I know that things can go around the houses over a long period of time. It is important that there is action. They are empty and derelict houses. It is important that we move on and try to get them back into use. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-07/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-07