Galway Bay fm newsroom - Galway City Council made just 3 requests to take land or property by CPO in the past seven years.
County Councils have the power to use Compulsory Purchase Order if it's deemed to be for the common good.
CPOs - or Compulsory Purchase Orders - are typically associated with land acquisition, but can be used to take over houses and property.
According to the Irish Independent, just 240 orders have been issued by county councils nationwide in the past 7 years.
That's despite 184 thousand properties lying vacant across the country.
Just three compulsory purchase orders were made by Galway City Council - while no figures were made available for the County Council.
According to the Irish Independent, Louth County Council accounted for the bulk of CPOs made in the past 7 years - with 141 requests made.
Meanwhile, at least sixteen local authorities nationwide did not issue a single compulsory purchase order during that time.