I have a question for the Taoiseach on the programme for Government in the context of housing lists. The issue is not the fault of our local authority in County Kerry because everybody is aware that Kerry County Council is the finest and hardest working local authority in the State, and that is a fact. Our housing department is second to none, but when local authority houses become available - in other words, when a tenant moves out - there is a long delay in getting those houses turned around. This is due to finance not being made available from central government to our local authority to do the necessary works to turn the houses around, rent them out again and make them available to the people who are waiting on the housing lists. I ask the Taoiseach to please ensure that when a local authority house becomes available it is turned around, and whatever needs to be done is done to modernise the premises and bring it up to standard, including retrofitting if needed. I ask that this be done quickly so that a family or an individual can go into the house and make it a home again.

There should be no delay with those houses-----

I am sorry to interrupt the Minister of State but on the same matter, I will take Deputy Pat Buckley.

It is not just affecting Kerry County Council. Let us be honest; all the local authorities are doing a great job. I echo what Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said. There is a house in my town that has been idle for two years. It had been done up but it still lies idle while we have a massive shortage of housing of any kind in Cork. The issue has to be raised. Municipal district councils must be supported also. There are so many properties lying idle for so long and we are being told that it is to do with funding and so on. There are plenty of cases where, unfortunately, people have passed away and some of those properties are in turnkey condition. It is the locks only that need to be changed. People could move into that house and make it a home. A home is very different from a house. I agree with the Deputy. We must take a realistic approach. I ask the Minister of State for support at local level also.

I will address the second question first. If there is a house in Cork city that has already been refurbished and is lying idle, that should not be the case. It is nothing the Department would be part of. If the house is already fixed then it is not waiting for money. If the Deputy wants to give me the address of the house I am very happy to check that out. That is not something we would stand over. I want to be very clear on that.

The other question related to Kerry County Council and to the other local authorities. A voids programme has been in place for the past three to four years. The guts of 10,000 houses have been brought back into use. They had been lying idle for many years and were brought back into use under Rebuilding Ireland. They have all been refurbished. As late as October 2018 every local authority had been written to to clarify that there was funding available to bring forward voids and empty houses. There is no excuse for houses to be delayed and it should be possible in most cases to turn houses around in a number of weeks. In some instances, it can take longer due to local operational issues. The funding, however, is available for any local authority. I am not aware that Kerry County Council has an outstanding application for additional funding. If there is, I will have to check that. I want to be very clear that we do not want long-term voids and the money is there.