More than 3,600 council houses are lying empty in the midst of the housing crisis.

Some 2.7% of the State’s social housing stock is vacant – while 72,000 households in Ireland qualify for housing support.

A report from the National Oversight and Audit Commission, which oversees local authorities, says councils need to improve the time it takes to re-let a property.

The latest NOAC Performance Indicator Report found that it took an average of 28.9 weeks to re-let a council home in 2017 – down from an average of 33 weeks in 2016.

According to the report, Westmeath County Council has the lowest vacancy rate in the country at 0.43%.

South Dublin County Council came in second best at 0.44%.

Leitrim County Council reported the highest level of vacancy at 5.86%.

Thirteen local authorities had a vacancy rate of less than 2%, while five had a rate higher then 5%.

The report found that the State increased its supply of social housing by 2,019 units over the 12 months of 2017.

At the end of December 2017, local authorities owned 133,375 units – up from 131,375 the previous year.