Written Answers Nos. 197-212
197. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of funding to local authorities (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23018/16]
View answerThe Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2013, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas library, brought into operation a grant scheme to assist with the cost of remediation of septic tanks and domestic waste water treatment systems which are deemed, following inspection under the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Inspection Plan, to require repair or upgrading. The grant scheme ensures that the limited financial resources available are targeted towards householders, particularly those on lower incomes, who incur expenditure directly as a result of the implementation of the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012.
The Regulations provide that, subject to the applicant meeting all qualification criteria, a local authority may pay a grant to a person who is required, following an inspection, to have repairs or upgrades to, or replacement of, a septic tank or other domestic waste water treatment system. Applications for grant aid are administered by the local authorities in whose functional area the particular domestic waste water treatment system requiring remediation is situated. Where a local authority pays a grant under the scheme, my Department will recoup 100% of the amount paid by the local authority. Full details of the scheme, including eligibility criteria, are set out in the explanatory leaflet and application form published on my Department’s website at: http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/Water/FileDownLoad,33607,en.pdf.
More generally, householders who do not meet the eligibility criteria for the grant under the aforementioned Regulations and who wish to remediate or upgrade their on-site treatment systems may qualify for relief under the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) Scheme introduced pursuant to Section 5 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2013. The HRI Scheme covers main residence repairs, renovations and improvements, including the repair or replacement of septic tanks. The Scheme is administered by the Revenue Commissioners and full details are published on the Revenue Commissioner’s website at www.revenue.ie.
198. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which his Department continues to monitor progress in regard to the completion of development works in unfinished housing estates, on a county basis; the extent of the works completed to date and that remaining; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23101/16]
View answerSince 2010, an annual survey of unfinished housing developments has been conducted during the summer months to monitor progress. The detailed findings of the annual surveys, which provide a breakdown of unfinished housing developments in each local authority area, together with progress reports and other useful information in relation to Unfinished Housing Developments, are available on the Housing Agency’s website: www.housing.ie.
The latest annual progress report, Resolving Unfinished Housing Developments, was published by the Agency in December 2015 and is available at the following web link: http://www.housing.ie/getattachment/Our-Services/Unfinished-Housing-Developments/2015-National-Housing-Survey/Progress-Report-on-UHDs-Dec-2015-(final).pdf.
The report found that 668 developments remained unfinished in 2015, which represents a reduction of 324 on the 992 unfinished housing developments remaining after the previous survey in 2014, and a reduction of some 75% on the overall number of nearly 3,000 unfinished housing developments originally identified in 2010.
Earlier this week, the Government published Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness which sets out a practical and readily implementable set of actions that will increase annual housing supply to 25,000 units by 2020, thereby creating a functioning and sustainable housing system. The plan is available at the website www.rebuildingireland.ie.
The plan is divided into five pillars, with each targeting a specific area of the housing system for attention. Pillar 5, entitled Utilise Existing Housing, has a key objective of ensuring that existing housing stock is used to the maximum degree possible, focusing on measures to use vacant housing to renew urban and rural areas. Action 5.1 3 under this Pillar refers to continuing work on unfinished housing developments and exploring opportunities in terms of social housing, based on the most up-to-date data from the 2016 survey.
199. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which adequate resources remain available to the various local authorities to facilitate the provision of housing adaptation grants to meet the requirements of those with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23102/16]
View answerThe funding allocation of €56.25m in 2016 for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability comprises €45m Exchequer funding and €11.25m from local authorities’ own resources. Details of these 2016 allocations are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/housing/grantsfinancial-assistance/ministers-kelly-coffey-announce-eu5625-million-improve-homes.
The 2016 allocation represents a 10% increase on that of 2015, so I am satisfied that the resourcing of this scheme is being supported and enhanced to assist the maximum number of eligible citizens. In the management of this scheme, my Department works closely with local authorities to achieve a full drawdown of their allocations. Through careful management of my Department’s housing budget in 2015, additional funds were made available to local authorities with high levels of grant activity and the same approach will be followed for 2016, where possible.
200. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which his Department continues to be made aware of new applicants for local authority housing arising from repossessions or notice to quit from landlords; the extent to which this is being monitored by the various local authorities with a view to taking steps to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23103/16]
View answer201. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of persons currently on the various local authority housing lists throughout the country; the extent to which rent increases are making it impossible for such families to exist or remain in their homes; if urgent provision can be made to meet their requirements, thus preventing a rapid escalation in homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23104/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together.
The assessment of applications for social housing support is the responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated regulations. The prescribed application form for such support requires applicants to provide certain information on their current and previous accommodation, including whether they received a notice to quit or an eviction notice in respect of their current accommodation and the reasons for leaving previous accommodation. My Department does not collate day-to-day information on the number of applications made to each local authority nor the specific contents thereof.
Statutory Summaries of Social Housing Assessments are carried out at regular intervals and they provide information on the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists. Only those households which have been assessed as being eligible and in need of such support following the carrying out of the prescribed application process by the relevant housing authority are placed on the list. The most recent summary, carried out as at 7 May 2013, provided details on the number of households categorised as having a housing need due to an unsustainable mortgage. Details of the 2013 Housing Needs Assessment are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.housing.ie/News/Current-News/18-12-13-Summary-of-Social-Housing-Assessments-201.pdf.
The 2016 Summary of Housing Assessments is now underway, and future summaries of social housing assessments will be carried out on an annual basis, providing up-to-date and comprehensive data on the numbers of households qualified for social housing support on an on-going basis, including the level of households which have a housing need arising from unsustainable mortgages.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015, enacted on 4 December 2015, introduced a number of measures to address rent stability. The Act provides, inter alia, that the minimum period between rent reviews for tenancies is increased from 12 to 24 months and this new provision will apply for a 4 year period. In addition, the Act increased the minimum period of notice of new rent from 28 days to 90 days. Each of these new provisions commenced on enactment. Further provisions to support rent stability in the 2015 Act include that a notice of new rent must be in the prescribed form, include details of dispute resolution procedures available through the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and be accompanied by details of the rent sought in respect of 3 comparable dwellings in the area.
Ultimately, the key to addressing rising rents and preventing homelessness is through increasing the supply of homes. In publishing Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness on 19 July 2016, the Government has set out a practical and readily implementable set of actions that aim to increase annual housing supply to 25,000 units per annum by 2020, thereby creating a functioning and sustainable housing system. The plan is available at the website www.rebuildingireland.ie.
202. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing purchases or new housing starts approved by his Department in respect of County Kildare in the past 12 months having regard to the rising extent of homelessness, rapidly increasing rents and the numbers on the local authority housing waiting lists; if cognisance is being taken of the worsening situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23105/16]
View answerTargets in respect of social housing delivery via a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes, were set for each local authority out to 2017 and are available on my Department’s website, along with the associated provisional funding allocations, at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41016,en.htm.
As part of these targets, almost €87 million has been allocated to Kildare County Council for the delivery of 1,283 social housing units.
It is a matter in the first instance for the Council to identify projects, across all approaches, to deliver social housing as soon as possible. I am keen that all local authorities, including Kildare County Council, advance these projects and I have assured them that funding is available to support their efforts in this regard, including construction and acquisition projects.
Following the notification of targets to Kildare County Council and other local authorities in April 2015, approvals for a substantial number of new social housing projects were announced in May 2015, July 2015 and January 2016. Between these three announcements, almost €680 million has been allocated for over 3,900 social housing new builds, turnkey developments and acquisitions. Details of these project approvals, including for Kildare, are available on my Department’s website at the following links: -
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,42225,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/housing/social-housing/ministers-kelly-coffey-announce-further-1000-social-housing-units
While social housing construction projects are being advanced, acquisitions of new and second-hand houses and apartments remain an effective means of meeting immediate social housing need. In 2015, Kildare County Council secured the purchase of 79 housing units and to date this year, have completed the purchases of a further 47 additional units for social housing purposes. Some of these acquisitions, as well as some of the approved construction projects, were under the Capital Assistance Scheme whereby approved housing bodies deliver social housing for those with specific needs such as elderly people, persons with intellectual or physical disability and homeless persons.
In 2015, my Department provided over €12.1 million to Kildare County Council for the delivery of new social housing units, under both construction and acquisition programmes and the figure to date in 2016 is in excess of €8.3 million. In addition to the funding provided by my Department, Kildare County Council also contributes significant levels of funding from their own resources for the delivery of units.
The delivery of new social housing units through a public private partnership (PPP) model is also being pursued. The PPP programme will have an investment of €300 million to deliver 1,500 social housing units and it is being rolled-out in three bundles. The first bundle of the PPP sites, to provide over 500 new housing units, was announced in October 2015 and covers six sites, one of which is to deliver some 75 units at Craddockstown, Naas, County Kildare.
The measures in the new Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness will ramp up delivery of housing from its current under-supply across all tenures and provide for new targets, funding and reforms to achieve the plan’s ambitious objectives. The Action Plan is available at www.rebuildingireland.ie.
203. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will sign an approval order to commence urgently required works at a location (details supplied) in County Kilkenny to alleviate what has been classified as a dangerous health hazard by an independent report commissioned through Kilkenny County Council which has been sent to him and details the significant issues with heating systems in the dwellings of this estate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23135/16]
View answerThe management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for each relevant local authority to address in the first instance and it is open to each authority to address maintenance and improvements to their housing stock from within their own resources.
In relation to the project referred to by the Deputy in the details supplied, my Department has received an application for funding from Kilkenny County Council to carry out remedial works in order to advance this project. My Department requested additional information from the local authority in relation to this project. This was recently provided and is now being examined and my Department will be in contact again shortly with the Council.
204. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will amend governing legislation to ensure that public funding raised through general taxation which is spent by local authorities is under the remit of the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts to ensure further scrutiny of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23136/16]
View answerThis matter will be considered in the context of the Programme for a Partnership Government commitment to examine the possibility of extending the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C and AG) and the Public Accounts Committee to include expenditure by local authorities.
The range of legislative provisions in the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 involves both the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Finance, while issues relating to local government audit under the Local Government Act 2001 are a matter for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.
The issue of a possible merger between the Local Government Audit Service and the Office of the C and AG was considered as part of the previous Government's programme for the rationalisation of State agencies. While it was decided at that time not to merge these organisations, the process led to engagement at senior management level between the two auditing bodies with regard to enhanced co-operation arrangements in areas such as professional training, value for money methodology and approach and the possibility of issuing joint reports within their existing respective mandates.
The Local Government Reform Act 2014 introduced significant changes to a wide range of aspects of the local government system. As regards accountability and oversight, the Act provided for the establishment of a National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) as the statutory body to oversee the local government sector. The statutory functions of NOAC include examining the financial performance, including value for money, of local government bodies in respect of their financial resources.
Further information on NOAC and its work to date is available at www.noac.ie.
205. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures being taken by his Department to ensure that waste collection companies are abiding by correct procedure, following his agreement with the waste industry which provides for a price freeze and the introduction of pay-by-weight charges on a phased basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23137/16]
View answer222. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to provide an update on the level of information provided by private waste collection companies to residential customers regarding the new pay-by-weight scheme; the number of meetings his Department has held with the industry since the 1 July freeze; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23295/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 205 and 222 together.
In an open market, it is a matter for a waste collector to set charges at the level they consider to be competitive, in compliance with the requirements of environmental and other applicable legislation. However, since the waste industry began releasing its proposed prices under pay-by-weight last month, the Government relayed its concern to the industry regarding the reported escalation of waste bills for customers of certain companies.
On foot of this, I actively engaged with representatives of the waste industry to agree a way forward that results in customers paying no more than they are currently paying for waste over the next 12 months. The approach agreed with the industry is by way of a price freeze to end-June 2017. The operation of the price freeze by the industry will be closely monitored by Government and, in the event of evidence being presented of the agreement being breached, legislative options will be considered to address the issue. In this regard, my Department has held three meetings with representatives of the waste industry since 1 July 2016 and will continue to liaise with operators as necessary with regard to the consistent implementation of the agreement.
Legislation has been introduced to remove mandatory pay-by-weight charging for household waste collection. However, it is still open to a company to charge on a pay-by-weight basis, albeit in the context of the aforementioned price freeze. Indeed, many companies already have a pay-by-weight element to their charging structure and their customers are quite happy with this approach. In this regard, it is intended to roll out a comprehensive education and awareness programme on pay by weight so that more householders can make an informed decision around their pricing plan. However, as I have already indicated, the Government will review the operation of pay-by-weight and make decisions regarding its further roll-out, regulation and oversight by July 2017.
206. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to have a further round of the national taking-in-charge initiative measure 2; and the way he intends to advance improvement works for estates identified in the pilot but not approved funding. [23145/16]
View answer€10 million has been made available in 2016 to fund a new initiative to accelerate the taking-in-charge of estates, irrespective of the wider development context in which they are located. Of the €10 million, a provisional allocation of €3.5 million has been made available in relation to Housing Estates served by Developer Provided Infrastructure (Measure 2 referred to in the question).
Local authorities were invited to submit proposals, based on that indicative allocation of €3.5 million proposed to be made available to seven local authorities (Cork County, Clare, Donegal, Galway County, Kerry, Tipperary and Wexford County Councils) for demonstration projects under Measure 2 relating to housing estates served by Developer Provided Infrastructure (DPI), based on an earlier pilot study. While there are no plans at present to roll out another funding initiative for Measure 2, consideration may also be given to other counties within the indicative funding available.
The experience gained through the initiative in 2016 and the associated demonstration projects is intended to establish a co-ordinated, taking-in-charge programme to progressively address the issue on a multi-annual basis, in the light of available local authority, Irish Water, bond and other funding sources and the general Government financial position.
207. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the revision of the wind energy development guidelines 2006; if the revisions to the guidelines will be informed by a public consultation process and best international practice based on the most recent research; and the timeframe for completion of the revision. [23147/16]
View answer208. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the international practices and recent research on which the revision of the wind energy development guidelines will be based. [23165/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 207 and 208 together.
In December 2013, my Department published proposed “draft” revisions to the noise, setback distance and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed:
- the setting of a more stringent day and night-time noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments,
- a mandatory minimum setback distance of 500 metres between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations, and
- the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.
A public consultation process was also initiated on these proposed draft revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines, which ran until 21 February 2014. My Department received submissions from 7,500 organisations and members of the public during this public consultation process.
As outlined in the recently published Programme for a Partnership Government, this Government is committed to finalising the revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines within 3 to 6 months. The revisions to the Guidelines will be informed by the public consultation process and by best international practice. My Department will continue to advance work on the Guidelines, in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
The revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines, when finalised, will be issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála are required to have regard to such guidelines, issued under Section 28, in the performance of their functions under the Planning Acts.
209. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with reference to the establishment of the commission to review Dáil and European constituencies, if the commission will review constituency boundaries taking into account county boundaries; the other criteria that will be used by the commission in examining this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23213/16]
View answerIn accordance with section 5 of the Electoral Act 1997 I established a Constituency Commission on 14 July 2016, following the publication by the Central Statistics Office of the preliminary results of Census 2016. The function of the Commission is to make a report on the constituencies for the election of members of Dáil Éireann and of the European Parliament having regard to Article 16 of the Constitution and to the terms of reference set out in section 6(2) of the Electoral Act 1997.
Section 6(2) of the Electoral Act 1997, as amended, provides that, in preparing a report in relation to the constituencies for the election of members to the Dáil, a Constituency Commission shall, in observing the relevant provisions of the Constitution in relation to Dáil constituencies, have regard to the following:
(a) the total number of members of the Dáil, subject to Article 16.2.2 of the Constitution, shall be not less than 153 and not more than 160;
(b) each constituency shall return 3, 4 or 5 members;
(c) the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable and this reference to county boundaries is deemed not to include a reference to a boundary of a city or any boundary between any two of the counties of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin;
(d) each constituency shall be composed of contiguous areas;
(e) there shall be regard to geographic considerations including significant physical features and the extent of and the density of population in each constituency; and
(f) subject to the provisions of this section, the Commission shall endeavour to maintain continuity in relation to the arrangement of constituencies.
The requirements at (b) to (f) also apply to the review of constituencies for the election of members of the European Parliament and there must also be reasonable equality of representation as between those constituencies.
210. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware that the latest figures produced by the Central Statistics Office for the first quarter of 2016 for planning permissions for apartments have declined by 20% compared to the same period in 2015; and the reason for such a large decline, given the fact that standards for multi-unit developments were changed in accordance with recommendations by his predecessor. [23216/16]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments - Guidelines for Planning Authorities were only published in December 2015 and communicated to local authorities in January 2016.
Accordingly, it is too early to expect to see any impact of the changes made to the standards for new apartments, including apartment minimum sizes specified in the Guidelines, in the figures on planning permissions for apartments to date in 2016.
Indeed, the stated drop in apartment planning permissions in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 may reflect market uncertainty in the face of individual locally-set standards, prior to my Department’s publication of the new standards which are mandatory for all local authorities.
Notwithstanding this, it should be noted in the last quarter of 2015, over 2,400 multi-unit developments were granted planning permission, compared to 1,312 in quarter 1, 822 in quarter 2 and 602 in quarter 3 of 2015. Over the last 5 years, it would appear that planning permissions for apartments are actually increasing rapidly.
In addition, and more importantly to ensure their consistent application, including in the many local authority areas with no minimum standards, the 2015 Guidelines were drafted in a manner that avails of amendments to the Ministerial powers under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to issue guidelines to planning authorities; the amendments concerned were inserted by the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2015.
The 2015 Act enables statutory guidelines to expressly state “Specific Planning Policy Requirements” to be applied by planning authorities, or An Bord Pleanála, as appropriate, in the exercise of their planning functions and, where any conflict arises between such guidelines and local authority development plans, the requirements of the guidelines take precedence.
While not all aspects of the 2015 Apartment Guidelines are mandatory, they identify a number of specific planning policy requirements that must be applied by local authorities. These include minimum apartment unit floor areas.
The 2015 Guidelines updated previous 2007 Guidelines, which, in practice, had little if any real effect in terms of actual development, due to the post-2008 economic downturn and after which, despite challenging economic conditions, a number of local authorities set differing and higher minimum floor area standards.
The confusion of different standards and inconsistencies between local authorities, even within the Dublin Region, and the cost implications of associated lift, access and parking requirements, were considered by my Department to raise wider concerns about adverse impacts on the viability of new housing development generally, and apartment development specifically, both in relation to public and private housing.
Housing, or more specifically tackling the lack of its provision, is the single biggest issue facing this Government. The new guidelines provide for a more consistent approach to apartment development, addressing the plethora of ever-escalating minimum floor area requirements and resultant uncertainty which, in the absence of the guidelines, would have adversely impacted not only on supply, but supply at affordable prices.
211. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department or a body under its aegis provides any ongoing independent Government research into construction costs; and his views that implementing such an ongoing review should be a priority. [23217/16]
View answerIn the context of social housing provision, my Department undertakes analysis in respect of the average costs associated with the delivery of a range of differently sized social housing units, both in terms of construction costs and ‘all-in’ costs. These costs are based on an analysis of returned data from local authorities on social housing schemes. Nevertheless, information on the average cost of current social housing developments of various sizes is preliminary at this stage and will be better informed when a greater number of projects have completed the tendering stage over the months ahead. My Department has also input into work led by the Department of Finance in relation to construction costs which was undertaken under the Construction 2020 Strategy. In addition, costs are examined in the context of proposed legislative changes, particularly in relation to Building Regulations.
In accordance with the Programme for a Partnership Government, only yesterday the Government published Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness on 19 July 2016, which sets out a broad range of measures to tackle, among other things, some of the costs associated with the provision of housing in the interests of reducing construction overheads in order to facilitate an increased level of housing output into the future.
In particular, a €200 million Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) will provide much-needed enabling infrastructure on key sites to open up lands for early development. In addition, the NTMA, through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), is developing proposals to offer competitive financing on a commercial basis, and in line with ISIF’s statutory mandate, to meet other infrastructure requirements on large development sites.
The Action Plan also contains a commitment to undertake a detailed analysis, in conjunction with the construction sector, to benchmark housing delivery input costs in Ireland.
212. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason, in the context of the large capital allocations available to local authorities under the Social Housing Strategy 2020, 2015 was the worst year on record for local authority own builds with only 75 new social housing units built by local authorities. [23218/16]
View answerIn May 2015, the first major direct build social housing programme for some years was announced with over 100 separate housing projects. This was followed up by further approvals and announcements in July 2015 and January 2016. Between these three major announcements, almost €680 million has been allocated for over 3,900 social housing units, mainly via new construction projects and also including turnkey developments and acquisitions. Details of these project approvals are available on my Department’s website at the following links:
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,42225,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/housing/social-housing/ministers-kelly-coffey-announce-further-1000-social-housing-units.
These projects created a pipeline of new social housing construction projects that had not existed for many years, during which period the role of local authorities in delivering social housing had hugely diminished.
The advancement of construction projects by its nature takes time and given this time-lag, local authorities delivered permanent social housing units in 2015 by acquiring over 1,000 properties through turn-key developments and other purchases and by returning 2,700 vacant units back into productive use.
In general, the time taken to advance social housing projects through planning and design and onto construction is consistent with an average pre-construction period for delivery of private housing (pre-design, preliminary design, planning approval, potential planning appeals, detailed design and statutory Building Control), although private housing developments are not subject to the time factors associated with the public procurement requirements that apply to social housing.
With the publication of the Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness, further measures will be taken to improve, support and accelerate delivery of social housing, including the establishment of a high-level Housing Delivery Office within my Department to support local authorities, AHBs and all stakeholders involved in the delivery of housing projects.
