The agency owns a total of 73 vacant properties, including 19 former Garda stations that have remained empty for more than a decade, and two decentralisation sites that have been vacant since 2007.

Hardware Association Ireland (HAI) estimates that the total potential in Cork city and county is about 3,660 units, including 1,830 empty homes and the same amount of over-the-shop units. 

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pledged that the various measures will bring down the cost of housing.

Mayo County Council is complaining list of vacant properties in the country and will write to their owners to encourage them to partake in the scheme

Social Democrat’s spokesperson on Housing Cian O’Callaghan has called for more Government action on vacant properties and apprenticeships to address the housing shortage.

The scheme will be administered through each local authority and it is hoped that many unoccupied buildings in towns and villages can be restored and converted into housing.