Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
406. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the Local Authority Housing Delivery Action Plans that were being reviewed by his Department and which were due to be published before the end of Q2 2022; and if he will provide a list of the plans that have been published and the plans that have been delayed and when they are due to be published. [37296/22]
View answer413. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the oversight measures that will be provided by his Department to ensure that the housing targets laid out in the Housing Delivery Action Plans that are currently being prepared by each local authority are met. [37449/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 406 and 413 together.
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 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes; 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing and 28,500 new affordable homes in the period 2022-2026. A key action of Housing for All is that local authorities develop and submit Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of social and affordable housing delivery in the period 2022-2026. All local authorities submitted their Housing Delivery Action Plans to me in December 2021 and my Department has worked closely with the local authorities to review and finalise the Plans, having regard to the targets and policy objectives set out in Housing for All. My Department has completed the review of all Plans and all local authorities have been advised to publish their Housing Delivery Action Plan on their websites.
Local authorities are independent corporate entities with full responsibility under law for the performance of their functions and the discharge of their governance and other responsibilities. My Department is working closely with the local authorities to ensure that they have the necessary funding and resources to deliver the social and affordable targets set out in Housing for All. In this regard, a central element of Housing for All is to build institutional capacity and Housing for All commits to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects and recognises that this requires the resourcing of the housing services of local authorities. Funding has been approved for 250 new posts for local authorities to support the delivery of social housing and work is nearing completion to identify additional resources required to support the delivery of Affordable Housing.
