Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2015
876. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when the next grant will be paid to Meath County Council for social housing development; the amount; the number of units it will build; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29061/15]
View answer877. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the process his Department, in conjunction with Meath County Council will use, other than building, if he will provide additional social housing units in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29062/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 876 and 877 together.
I announced targets for the delivery of social housing for all local authorities out to 2017 in April last, under which Meath County Council was set a target of 519 social housing units, supported by €27.8m of investment. This funding is being invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes to accommodate people on the housing waiting lists. Of the 519 units announced for County Meath, 134 units are to be delivered via capital-funded programmes, with 385 units under current-funded programmes.
I announced the first phase of direct-build projects under the Government’s Social Housing Strategy in May 2015, involving €312m of investment, comprising some 100 projects and 1,700 housing units. This included 83 new units for County Meath at a cost of over €17.1m. Full details, including specifics of the projects to be progressed, the funding allocated and the number of units to be delivered across all local authorities, are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm.
I also announced targets and funding for local authorities to return vacant or boarded-up social housing units to productive use, which is part of their delivery targets. The number of such units targeted for County Meath for 2015 is 25.
When I announced the first phase of direct-build projects under the Social Housing Strategy, I stated that further assessments are being carried which will result in the approval of additional projects and I expect further announcements will be made shortly as additional proposals from local authorities are evaluated.
Under the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme, previously referred to as the Social Housing Leasing Initiative, the number of additional social housing units that are targeted nationally to 2017 is 11,400. The number targeted in respect of County Meath is 284. However, it is important to highlight that the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme is a national fund without individual authority funding allocations. Where a local authority can exceed its target, it should be possible to fund such additional units with the agreement of my Department.
The number of additional social housing units targeted for the Rental Accommodation Scheme nationally to 2017 under the Social Housing Strategy is 4,000. The number of such units targeted in respect of County Meath is 101.
