Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 November 2018
184. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the steps he is taking to ensure that 2018 social housing construction targets will be achieved by his Department, the local authorities and housing agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46049/18]
View answerMy Department is supporting local authorities in the provision of new build social housing through a range of different initiatives and schemes, including the construction of social homes on their own lands, construction delivery in conjunction with approved housing bodies and also, local authorities are working in partnership with private developers to deliver social housing construction through turnkey arrangements.
Through this range of supports, local authorities now have substantial pipelines of new build social housing projects approved, details of which can be seen in the Quarter 2 2018 Construction Status Report, which is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link:
http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-publishes-latest-social-housing-construction-report/.
The report shows a strong build pipeline is in place with 1,067 projects and 16,351 homes already completed or in the pipeline.
While the management of the social housing delivery programmes is a matter for individual local authorities, my Department has set targets across the period 2016-2021 and is working closely with all stakeholders to accelerate delivery and further expand pipelines. In parallel with developing pipelines for delivery, ensuring that progress and delivery on ongoing projects remains on track is critical.
Data in relation to social housing construction delivery in 2018, to end Quarter 2, is available on my Department's website at the following link:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/attachments/social_housing_output_overview_q2_2018.xlsx.
Some 1,438 homes have been delivered through build programmes in the first half of the year, which includes delivery by local authorities, approved housing bodies, Part V homes and a small number of voids. Construction delivery in the second half of the year is expected to be considerably higher than delivery to end Quarter 2, in keeping with the normal annual pattern of delivery.
My Department engages with all local authorities on a regular basis regarding the delivery of social housing. This includes structured quarterly meetings to review progress and in the case of the four Dublin local authorities, monthly meetings are held. I am confident that the actions, targets and resources available to all local authorities under Rebuilding Ireland provide a strong platform for meeting our challenges in the housing sector and I am satisfied that all stakeholders are mobilised to keep delivery on track.
