Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 October 2019
221. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the allocations to local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, in 2018 and from 1 January to 31 August 2019; the amounts that were directed towards the various headings of the off-site infrastructures that were funded; the amount set for LIHAF in Budget 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43698/19]
View answerAs a key initiative of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) is designed to fund the provision of public off-site infrastructure to relieve critical blockages and enable housing developments to be built on key sites at scale. Infrastructure being funded under LIHAF includes access roads, distributor roads, link roads, road improvements, roundabouts, bridges and parks.
Funding of €200 million was originally made available under LIHAF, of which €150 million would be funded by the Exchequer with local authorities to match fund €50 million. 30 projects received final approval, at a total cost of €195.71 million, of which €146.69 million will be funded by the Exchequer with local authorities funding the balance. Details on all of the LIHAF projects by local authority area, budget allocation, project description, and housing delivery have been published on the Rebuilding Ireland website and are available at the following link:
www.rebuildingireland.ie/LIHAF
In terms of LIHAF expenditure, most projects have been at the design and planning stages, and this is reflected in the level of expenditure to date. However, more projects are now progressing to construction stage and it is expected that the expenditure will increase significantly towards the end of 2019 and into 2020 to reflect the increased construction activity.
Drawdown of LIHAF grant funding from the Department commenced with €1.603m in Exchequer funding provided in 2017, a further €6.814m in 2018 and €16.08m to date in 2019. Each of these Exchequer amounts was matched by 25% local authority funding. The allocation for 2020 for LIHAF is €60m.
