Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Justice Martin Kenny has criticised a decision by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to sell a number of former garda stations during the current housing crisis.
Two former garda stations in County Clare are to be sold by public auction later this week.
The former garda station in Lahinch comprises of five bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, dining room and reception room.
It is described as: "A substantial two-storey property. The building is comprised of two sections with separate entrances to each.
"The left hand side was used as the garda station and has an entrance hallway with a staircase to the upper floor accommodation, two offices on the ground floor and two rooms, a store room and a bathroom upstairs.
"The right hand side consists of an entrance hallway with staircase, a reception room, kitchen-dining room and having three bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom. With some minor improvements, the property could easily be converted into two or more separate dwellings."
The former garda station in Doonbeg is also five bedroomed. The sale spec of the building states that: "The property could easily be converted back to a single dwelling or kept in its current configuration as two separate dwellings. Whilst in need of refurbishment, this property boasts enormous potential."
Referring to the OPW's decision to sell the properties at this time Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny said in the context of the current housing emergency, it is "totally inappropriate" for the OPW and the Department of Justice to go ahead with the sale of the former garda stations.
"Only in the last few weeks the Minister for Integration made an appeal for unused State buildings to be made available for emergency housing.
"This needs to be considered in this instance as an option for people who are suffering because of the housing emergency," Mr Kenny said.
'Absolute certainty'
In a statement the OPW said that as a matter of policy, no property or site is disposed of until there is absolute certainty that there is no alternative State use for that property.
"The OPW's approach to managing vacant properties is firstly to establish if the property is required for alternative State use, including the potential for it to be re-purposed either for Government departments or the wider public service," the statement said.
It added that the OPW has provided information on its surplus properties to the relevant departments responsible for housing provision, as well as the departments managing the accommodation needs of those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
"Those Departments then assess the properties for their viability in terms of what may be repurposed for residential use."
Asked if it had assessed the former garda stations as a possible option for housing, a response from the Department of Integration stated: "The Department is currently receiving a high volume of queries in relation to specific properties around the country.
"Owing to capacity constraints within the department during the current crisis, it is not possible to respond to all such queries."
The two former garda stations in County Clare are to be sold by public auction next Thursday.
