The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been accused of taking a “cavalier approach” to the housing crisis, especially with regard to almost 200 vacant properties under its control.
Speaking in the Dáil, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the health service and public bodies across the State “are sitting on properties that could be transformed into safe and secure accommodation and homes”.
But she said “the HSE continues to give a bureaucratic shrug in the face of this national crisis”. She claimed this “cavalier approach” is reflected in the Government “dodging delivery”.
“These buildings were supposed to be converted into homes for people and families under the Government’s last failed housing plan. Why has so little happened?” she asked.
READ MORE
The Dublin Bay South TD said she had raised the issue with the the taoiseach in 2023 and he had told her to “get on to Dublin City Council”.
“What a dismissive attitude that is to the issue of State-owned properties gathering dust while people are sleeping in doorways,” Bacik said.
“There is a human cost to vacancy . . . When will the Government confront the epidemic of vacancy and dereliction, particularly in State-owned properties?”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin insisted the Government “have made it clear to the HSE that any properties surplus to requirement must be sold and the LDA (Land Development Agency) has first call in respect of those”.
But Bacik said the LDA had not been offered the site of the former Baggot Street hospital in Dublin, adding that the HSE was putting it “on the private market with, apparently, no consideration of the public good”.
In December, the LDA ruled out building affordable housing on the site of the former hospital. The LDA said several “challenges” were identified after it carried out a screening assessment of the site.
In response to Bacik, the Taoiseach said about 168 of the 190 vacant HSE properties “are in various stages of disposal”.
“Properties are disposed of on the open market and most have been disposed of via public auction,” he said.
The remaining 22 vacant properties are under review “and are being considered for retention and reuse by healthcare services”.
Martin said the measures Government had taken in the past 12 months were having an impact, with 36,000 housing completions in 2025. He said “the feedback on the market side, in respect of potentially increased private sector investment, is positive”.
He criticised the Labour party over its approach to rent reform measures.
The Housing Commission had recommended reform of rent pressure zones (RPZs) but, he said, the Labour Party “shares the opposition of some large developers” who opposed the legislation. The legislation in question is the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.
“I read The Irish Times last week,” the Taoiseach said. “Certain leading developers and landlords felt this measure was encroaching on their property. It shows the level of polemic, spin and shallow commentary, and the absence of any substantive debate.
“On one level, developers are saying that the RPZ reform is an encroachment on their constitutional rights and on the other level, the Labour Party is saying that reform is trampling on rights.”
Bacik said the Taoiseach “knows Government policy on vacancy and dereliction is indefensible”, adding: “He simply has no defence. It has patently failed.”
The Government had flagged the derelict site tax numerous times, she said. It is a scourge across communities, she contended, but particularly “where the buildings and sites are publicly owned. That is indefensible. There is no sense of urgency to bringing in the Government’s own measures.”
The Taoiseach said, however, the Revenue Commissioners are taking over the derelict tax and had to do a proper detailed mapping exercise with local authorities to get all of the properties properly identified.
“People are very conscious that Revenue is coming on to the scene. We are getting action already in advance of it,” he said.
