Cork City Council has defended its record on getting vacant housing back into stock.
It follows a protest which was held at Madden Buildings in Blackpool which was used to highlight the high number of vacant houses owned by the Council.
Demonstrators claimed that there are currently more than 400 vacant City Council houses and approximately 10 percent of the housing stock at Madden's Buildings is currently vacant at a time when there are 413 people homeless in Cork city and county.
The City Council says public health restrictions since the pandemic impacted work on vacant council housing as ensuring homeless people had access to emergency accommodation was a priority.
The Council also outlined how €24 million has been allocated by the Government over the past five years to work on vacant properties and this funding has been further supplemented with the Council's own resources.
