Eoin Ó Broin
Question:
100. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the action taken with respect to the 20 local authority housing estates that were the subject of the IFHS collective complaint against the Irish State to the European Committee of Social Rights in from 2014; and his plans to address the Committee of Ministers' findings that the Irish State was in breach of Article 16 of the European Social Charter with respect to the substandard quality of accommodation for a substantial number of local authority tenants and the failure of the State to address these standards in a timely manner. [2058/21]
View answer
Government and my Department have given careful consideration to the report of the European Committee of Social Rights in respect of the IFHS collective complaint against the Irish State in 2014. In relation to concerns around the adequacy of certain local authority housing, my Department is committed to ensuring that tenants in social housing are provided with adequate housing that meets the standards most recently laid down in the Housing (Standards For Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.
The relevant details are being compiled and will be provided to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
The regular management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, is a matter for each relevant local authority, and it is open to each authority to address maintenance or improvements to their housing stock from within their own resources. However, my Department also supports local authorities to improve their social housing stock through a range of programmes including regeneration, energy retrofitting and refurbishment works to vacant properties in order to return these to productive use as quickly as possible.
My Department currently supports a programme of large-scale regeneration projects in Cork, Limerick and Dublin and smaller projects in Tralee, Sligo and Dundalk. These projects seek to address the causes of disadvantage in these communities through a holistic programme of physical, social and economic regeneration. Projects being funded under the programme target the country’s most disadvantaged communities, including those defined by the most extreme social exclusion, unemployment and anti-social behaviour. Between 2016 and 2019, over 560 units were delivered under the National Regeneration Programme supported by funding in excess of €237 million from my Department. In 2020, funding of over €46 million was provided; the delivery statistics for the year under the programme are currently being validated.
The Energy Retrofitting Programme aims to improve energy efficiency and comfort levels in social homes and addresses issues around fuel poverty. An annualised breakdown of the properties retrofitted under the programme per local authority, is available on my Department's website at the following link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/668c1-energy-efficiency-retrofitting-programme-expenditure-output/
My Department also funds refurbishment works to vacant properties in order to return these to productive use as quickly as possible under the Voids Programme as distinct from the local authorities own refurbishment works; between 2014 to 2019, exchequer investment of some €172.3 million has been provided to local authorities to refurbish / upgrade 12,495 social homes under this programme. Figures for 2020 can be viewed at the following link.
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/78da0-voids-stimulus-programme-exceeds-target-in-bringing-2565-homes-back-into-social-housing-stock/
My Department also provides for the Disabled Persons Grant (DPG) scheme which provides funding for adaptations and extensions to existing social housing stock to meet specific needs of the local authority tenants with a 10% contribution required from the local authority. A total of €18 million was made available under the DPG scheme for 2020. Details of the funding provided by my Department to each local authority under the DPG scheme, from 2011 to 2020 are available at the following link:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/grantsfinancial-assistance/disabled-persons-grants-and-improvement-works-lieu-schemes
In relation to the specific local authority housing estates identified in the IFHS collective complaint, these were submitted as a series of Case Studies and an update on each is provided in the attached Appendix.
My Department is actively engaging with the local authority sector to promote the preventative maintenance of local authority housing stock. In addition to funding provided by the local authorities themselves in respect of their own housing stock, my Department provides funding across a number of programmes as outlined above to support the local authority work to maintain and improve their social housing stock; in all cases, it is the local authorities that identify priorities. The continued work of local authorities in undertaking stock condition surveys, their responsive and planned maintenance programmes, as well as important on-going programmes such as the National Regeneration, Energy Retrofitting and Voids programmes continue to improve local authority housing stock and address the issues raised with the European Committee of Social Rights.
