HSE called out over five Mayo vacant properties amid housing crisis

The HSE has five properties lying idle in Mayo in the midst of an accommodation crisis.

It is among 172 buildings which the agency owns across the nation and are currently not in use.

Up to 142 of these assets are deemed surplus to requirements, according to a report in the Irish Independent.

The number of state-owned buildings still lying idle has come under increasing scrutiny due to the shortage of new homes as well as pressures to find living arrangements for refugees and asylum-seekers.

It has been argued that many of these buildings could be renovated and repurposed to help ease the shortage of homes.

The HSE said it “adheres to its statutory obligations and is required to offer surplus assets in the first case to the Land Development Agency and then to other state stakeholders – including local authorities."

This is in keeping with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform protocol for the transfer and sharing of state property assets, it added.

A breakdown of HSE properties in disposal shows 26 are in Cork and a similar number in Dublin. Eleven are in Wicklow, 10 in Galway and eight in Kerry.

Buildings that are vacant and under review include five in Dublin, five in Mayo and three in Offaly.

These buildings range in age from pre-18th century to modern purpose-built facilities