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Local Authority Housing

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021

Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Questions (627)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Question:

627. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason his Department has not signed off on a request from Donegal County Council that it be permitted to purchase the property in an area (details supplied) to house a family on the housing list; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Donegal County Council has built or acquired less public or council homes in the past 11 years than in just 2002; and his views on whether delays such as this are unacceptable in such circumstances. [14235/21]

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Written answers

My Department did not receive a request from Donegal County Council regarding the acquisition of the property to which the Deputy refers. However, I understand from the Council that they have put in place a long term housing solution for the tenants concerned.

The delivery of housing supports is a key priority of Government and this is reflected in the Programme for Government commitment to increase the social housing stock nationally by more than 50,000, with a key emphasis on delivering new build homes. We are ambitious to ramp up the delivery at local authority level and we are committed to developing housing on public land.

Comprehensive programme level statistics are published by my Department on a quarterly basis on all social housing delivery activity, including year-on-year details of both build and acquisition delivery. This is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/ .

To provide transparency on the new social housing construction projects being advanced, my Department publishes a Social Housing Construction Status Report each quarter with details of all social housing developments completed or under construction in each local authority area. The report for 2020 is available at the following link: https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-obrien-publishes-2020-social-housing-statistics/

These quarterly reports provide details of the social housing construction schemes completed and those in the pipeline for County Donegal.

The Government will be publishing a new housing strategy this year, which will set out details of social housing delivery out to 2025, including social housing targets for 2022 onwards. While Donegal County Council already has a social housing construction programme in train, I am keen that they are proactive in adding to this pipeline and in advancing their existing projects as speedily as possible. The quarterly publication of the Social Housing Construction Status Report can also give Councillors and public representatives the opportunity to work with the local authority officials to press the advancement of these social housing delivery projects.

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