Department of Health must compel HSE to release vacant properties

Labour leader and housing Ivana Bacik has urged the Minister of Health to compel the HSE to release the enormous number of vacant properties it owns nationwide.

Deputy Bacik said:

“It beggars belief that the HSE could be holding back such a huge number of empty properties that could be housing people nationwide.

“In cities like Cork, Dublin and Galway, there are properties that could be transformative for local communities and go a huge way in tackling the national scourge of homelessness.

“Time and again, I have raised with the Government the need to bring buildings like Baggot Street Hospital back into use to provide people with homes. The lack of oversight from the Department of Health on the numbers of properties the HSE are essentially hoarding is outrageous.

“Labour is compiling its own vacant and derelict property register to bring more properties back into use for homes for people. We are in the grips of the worst housing crisis in living memory. We need a sense of urgency from Government to bring these vacant and derelict properties back into use.

“There needs to be a much more coordinated response from Government when it comes to tackling vacancy and dereliction. We saw the power of the State during Covid to mobilise and act in the best interests of all people. Why can’t they do the same to tackle the crisis of our time?”