The new Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has warned that owners of vacant second homes across the country should be ‘on notice’ as his department is looking to introduce new measures that will see vacant homes being used to tackle the current homelessness crisis.
Mr Murphy who was recently speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, saud that he is currently working with local authorities to setup an Empty Homes Unit that will see unused homes being sanctioned for hosing for the homeless.
Mr Murphy said the proposals come after the 2016 Census revealed that there are were 180,000 vacant homes across Ireland.
Although he admitted that the majority of these homes may not be available for use due to them being rented out or being in the wrong location, Mr Murphy claimed there would be around 25,000 available for use in order to help tackle the homelessness crisis.
It is understood the Government plan to announce its Vacant Homes Strategy next month.