Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 March 2025
11. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the support his Department is providing for the provision of cost-rental apartments at St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12742/25]
View answerSt. Michael's Estate in Inchicore was meant to be a flagship cost rental development, but progress, as we know, has been slow. Planning permission was granted in July 2023. Dublin City Council is seeking a loan of €132.5 million to fund the cost rental units. Given that work on the site was due to start this month - main construction is not now expected until November - can the Minister clarify what exactly is causing the delays and whether loan approval is holding up the project?
I thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this very important question regarding St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore. She has been pursuing a campaign and working extremely hard on the matter for some time.
Under Housing for All, the Government set out plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes, by 2030. To deliver on this objective, the Government has put in place a comprehensive range of supports for affordable home ownership and cost rental homes being delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and via the first home scheme, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
To assist the delivery of cost rental homes by local authorities, funding is made available by my Department from the affordable housing fund to reduce the delivery cost of homes to local authorities and thereby reduce the cost of rents to a level at least 25% below market rents in the area. Dublin City Council is availing of the highest level of funding support available from the fund, at €150,000 per unit, to facilitate the proposed redevelopment of lands at Emmet Road, Inchicore, which includes the site of the former St. Michael’s Estate. A total amount of €66.15 million has been approved in principle from the fund to support the 441 cost rental homes proposed within the project. The development will have 578 homes in total, a community hub library, a creche, a supermarket, other retail outlets and a series of new public open spaces to create a vibrant new neighbourhood in Inchicore.
That is all very welcome but construction is yet to start. It looks like it will not be starting until late this year, with a completion date in 2028. As the Minister explained, this is a fantastic project of 578 mixed-tenure units plus 52 social housing units by Circle Voluntary Housing Association. It will be a fantastic development, but is there anything that the Minister can do to expedite the funding for the project or to provide direct financial support to the council in order that there will not be any further delays with the funding?
I again thank Deputy Ardagh for raising this matter. I know how hard she has pursued it. I do not foresee any further delays. There should not be any further delays. As stated, €66.15 million has been approved for allocation from the fund. This is an exceptionally large amount of money that is needed. Such a large amount deserves to be granted in respect of a project of this type. I will certainly do everything I can to ensure that we get shovels in the ground this year and get this much-needed project off the ground.
Dublin City Council plans to outsource the management of this development. Can the Minister confirm if that decision will affect the affordability of tenancy protections for cost rental tenants? Additionally, if the €132.5 million loan is not approved quickly, what alternative measures can be taken to ensure that the project moves forward without further setbacks?
This project has been the subject of considerable debate in this Chamber and of strong cross-party support since it was announced in 2018. There will be further delays. Those delays will be as a result of the imposition of the four-stage approval process by the Department. The four stages include unnecessary design approval, cost appraisal and lengthy procurement. We argued with Darragh O'Brien previously that this could be used as a pilot to run those approvals in parallel with tendering and procurement. We stated that we would work with the Department to try to achieve that. The latter is something that Dublin City Council would like to see. Is that something the Minister is willing to explore?
Will the Minister confirm if the loan approval sought by Dublin City Council been sanctioned by his Department? If not, when will it be granted?
I thank the Deputies for their questions. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the management situation. In the context of Deputy Ó Broin's question, I will get an answer for that. I do not have the information to hand.
