Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 February 2022
295. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide a copy of the Limerick City and County Housing Strategy and HNDA 2022-2028 and the Housing Action Plan submission for Housing for All. [5867/22]
View answerPursuant to section 94 of the the Planning and Development Act 2000, each planning authority is required to include a housing strategy in respect of the area of its development plan. In relation to the Housing Needs Demand Assessment (HNDA), objective 37 of the National Planning Framework requires each local authority to carry out a HNDA in order to correlate and accurately align overall future housing requirements, as an evolution of their existing Housing Strategy requirements under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
Limerick City and County Council published the Limerick City and County Draft Development Plan 2022-2028, which included a draft Housing Strategy and a HNDA on 26 June 2021. The draft is available on the Council’s website at the following link:
www.limerick.ie/sites/default/files/media/documents/2021-06/volume-6-limerick-city-and-county-draft-housing-strategy-and-housing-need-demand-assessment.pdf
Limerick City and County Council prepared the Chief Executive’s Report on all submissions received during the public consultation phase which was then issued to the Elected Members of the Council on 26 November 2021 for their consideration. This Chief Executive’s Report sets out a summary and the Chief Executive’s Response and Recommendation on each valid submission, and of any proposed Material Alterations to the Draft Plan. Material Alterations are due to be placed on public display in March 2022, where further submission and observations on the Material Alterations only can be made.
Since April 2019, the assessment of all statutory local authority development plans, including variations to development plans and local area plans, is undertaken by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). The oversight role of the OPR includes ensuring that local authority plans are consistent with relevant national and regional policies.
Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of an average of 10,000 new social homes each year and 6,000 affordable homes. Under Housing for All, each local authority, including Limerick City and County Council were required to prepare a Housing Delivery Action Plan, setting out details of social and affordable housing delivery in the period 2022-2026. I received a plan from Limerick City and County Council in December 2021 and my Department is working with the Housing Delivery Coordination Office to review it, having regard to Housing for All targets and policy objectives. Housing Delivery Action Plans will be published in Quarter 2, following the conclusion of the review process.
