Better inter-agency co-operation has led to significant improvements in the safety of unfinished housing developments as well as occupying vacant houses.
Chief Executive of the Housing Agency, and member of Unfinished Housing Developments, John O'Connor has said that the first priority was public safety.
He said that the unfinished developments of greatest risk to the public had been identified, and safety works were being carried out on them.
An agreement with NAMA is in place to fund improvements on the developments that they were involved in, he said.
50% of the safety work has been completed and the rest is expected to be finished in the coming months.
Mr O'Connor said that there had been a 20% reduction in vacant housing, mainly due to the renting of those properties.
He said houses will have to be deconstructed in some parts of the country where estates are located in remote areas.
Mr O'Connor acknowledged that there had been a significant drop in prices and said that people "had to be realistic."
He said that it was better for a vacant house to be sold and occupied, rather than left empty, continuing to lose value.
