Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

THE ARGUMENT as to just how many empty houses and apartments there are around the country rumbles on, with the latest estimate from a Maynooth professor putting the overall figure at over 300,000. The Construction Industry Federation, which looks after the interest of builders, had suggested that the figure is only around 40,000, while last week Minister for Housing Michael Finnerantold the Cabinet there were between 100,000 and 140,000 houses lying empty.

Professor Rob Kitchin of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (Nirsa), based at NUI Maynooth, which advises the Government, based his calculations on Ireland’s national address database – the GeoDirectory along with the 2006 Census and Department of Environment figures based on ESB connection points.