Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
563. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the extent to which adequate funding and authority remains available to Kildare County Council to purchase and or build sufficient housing units to meet the demand in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21062/20]
View answerThere is a strong and clear commitment in the Programme for Government to increase our social housing stock by over 50,000 over the next five years with an increasing emphasis on homes being built by local authorities, approved housing bodies and State agencies. The Programme for Government also commits us to progressing a State-backed affordable home purchase scheme.
Funding these ambitious programmes will also be a priority for the Government and funding is currently in place, across a range of programmes, to support the work of Kildare County Council and all other local authorities, to deliver social and affordable housing.
A detailed Social Housing Construction Status Report is published by my Department which provides information on new build activity across all local authority areas. The most recent publication covers the period up to the end of Q4 2019 and was published on 14 May 2020. This report includes projects brought forward by Kildare County Council and is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link: https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-publishes-social-housing-construction-status-report-for-q4-2019-2/.
While Kildare County Council already has a social housing construction programme in train, I am keen that they are proactive in adding to this pipeline and that they advance their existing projects as speedily as possible.
I will outline my detailed plans for affordable housing in the Autumn, taking account of existing measures and the input of delivery partners.
