We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
FIANNA FÁIL HAS criticised the government for spending almost €88 million a year on rental properties, despite owning a number of vacant properties.
The figures were released to the party’s spokesperson on Public Expenditure an Reform, Barry Cowen through a parliamentary question by Minister Paschal Donohoe.
A total of 96 State-owned properties are currently unoccupied, although a number of these are being prepared for alternative uses.
Of the 96:
It cost more than €580,000 a year to maintain these properties, the figures reveal.
A bulk of the €87.7 million paid to private landlords is spent in Dublin, where the figure stands at €68,227,241.
The total number of properties being rented by government across the country stands at 395. Two are currently unoccupied.
One property – the former garda station on Barrack Street in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny – is due to be liable for the vacant site levy.
“A list of empty state properties should be furnished and where feasible, rented offices should be transferred to them,” Cowen said in a statement.
“The state has a duty to keep costs down and maintain a suitable property portfolio. From January we will have a ridiculous situation whereby one state property will be subject to the vacant site levy.
It’s important that the tax payer gets full value for money for the rent paid to private property owners. We should not get sucked into paying massive sums of money on rent while we have buildings gathering moss.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Love this..the mad Bast*rd :)… Fair play and good luck to him!
Couldn’t agree more. Taking g a chance has also given great publicity to it all.
Heard this guy talking to Anton a few weeks ago when he was trying to get some black cabs out of London. He sounds like serious craic. Hope it all works out for him. I’d go for the storytelling this man does..hilarious.
His enthusiasm is great. He’s got real drive. I hope it goes really well for him.
The cabs arrived last week! A double decker bus came two days ago.
There’ll be loads of couples heading to Sligo to join the mile high club.
The turbulence will be pretty bad I’d say too
When the plane’s a-rockin’…….
Pity it wasn’t a Boeing 7-69!!!!!
I’ll get my coat…. and Av geeks, I know that a 769 doesn’t exist
If he could only get his hands on a couple of unattended Luas carriages…
He should call it AIR B and B.
Looks like plane sailing from here.
There will be plenty of people flying in that aircraft this summer ☺
Maybe not THIS summer. Won’t be ready by then.
The mile low club surely …… it’ll be on the ground! Mind ye, they should put this guy in charge of the modular housing!
Good for him, this is deadly!
Sleep in a scrapyard in Sligo for €200 a night
Is that the same jet in which Boris Yeltsin toured Ireland, all those years ago, searching for a hangover cure before his audience at Shannon with then Taoiseach, the late Albert Reynolds?
Good luck to Mr McGowan with his new Undertaking.
Great idea. Hope it works out for him.
Flying without wings
Even on the ground a Russian airliner is a no go area for me
Good on ya David…such a big ‘undertaking’! Hope it ‘lands safely’ in Enniscrone and that @quirkyglamping ‘takes off’!
Now that’s what you call plane sailing.
Sh it! Just noticed that’s in the headline…
Brilliant
Real spell caster revives !
Life without my husband was a real mess for me and my children,What on Earth will i do to thank Dr BALOGUN for his help? he is wonderful and has a good heart. He is like a God on Earth and i really do not know what to do to thank him for helping me regain my husbands love back with his spell. months ago my husband told me it was over between us and he let me and our children without saying a word, i did all i could to stop him because his mind was made up. few months later my friend told me how DR BALOGUN helped her with his spell,I love my husband so much that i would give up every thing for him, so i contacted Dr BALOGUN to also help me with his spell and he responded saying that he will help me with his spell that I should clam down and i will see result within 12 to 16 hours Today, i am so glad that everything happened just as Dr BALOGUN said, my husband will came back to me within 12 to 16 hours on his knees begging me to forgive him and I accepted him back into my life. Do you need help are you worried about your ex husband or your boyfriend left you for another,here is Dr BALOGUN he is a real and genuine spell caster contact him for help via email:
balogunsolutiontemple@gmail.com
REGARD FROM,
Dr BALOGUN
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say