Dessie Ellis
Question:25 Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to expand sheltered housing provisions in each local authority. [30405/11]
View answerThursday, 20 October 2011
Questions (25)
Written answers
The vision for the future of the housing sector in Ireland, as set in Government's Housing Policy Statement published in June 2011, is based on choice, fairness, equity across tenures and on delivering quality outcomes for the resources invested. The overall strategic objective will be to enable all households access good quality housing, appropriate to household circumstances and in their particular community of choice.
The main focus in terms of housing supports provided by Government will be on meeting the most acute needs — the housing support needs of those unable to provide for their accommodation from their own resources. The financial parameters within which we will be operating for the coming years rule out a return to very large capital-funded construction programmes by local authorities. A restructuring of my Department's social housing investment programme to allow for the delivery of new social housing through more flexible funding models will provide key sources of delivery in the period ahead. The social housing leasing initiative and, in particular, the Rental Accommodation Scheme will play a key role as long-term social housing supports.
My Department's Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) will continue to provide capital funding for the provision, by approved housing bodies, of housing to meet the accommodation needs of persons with specific categories of need, including older people, people with a physical, intellectual or mental health disability and homeless persons. My Department intends to issue a call for proposals for new voluntary housing projects, including sheltered housing projects, in the near future.
Housing authorities are currently engaged with my Department in a series of Housing Action Plan meetings which include discussion on the social housing investment programme for 2012 and beyond, including in relation to proposals for sheltered housing. My Department recently wrote to all housing authorities inviting them to submit a short-list of housing projects for funding in 2012. It will be a matter for individual authorities to decide on the nature of these proposals having regard to local housing need.