Under the Housing Management Initiative, from 1 January 2007, local authorities were given direct control over their Internal Capital Receipts from the sale of local authority dwellings, subject to certain conditions, to be used primarily for planned maintenance programmes and the improvement of their housing stock. Improvements necessary to facilitate older people or people with a disability would generally fall to be progressed under these arrangements.
Funding is also provided to local authorities by my Department for the installation of central heating and energy efficiency improvement measures for local authority stock. The National Central Heating Programme 2004-2008 has, to date, seen the installation of central heating, and associated insulation and energy efficiency improvements, in some 26,000 local authority dwellings. Exchequer funding of some €125 million has been provided, on a co-funding basis, to support this ambitious programme, with a further €12 million to be provided in 2009 to complete the installation of the 2,100 units commenced in 2008.
The central heating programme, which ends this year, has substantially addressed the stock of local authority dwellings without any form of central heating and is being replaced with a programme further to improve the energy efficiency of local authority stock. Announced as part of a national initiative to improve the energy efficiency of the Irish housing stock, this programme is designed to improve the energy rating of local authority dwellings due to be re-let and to enhance overall energy efficiency in local authority apartment complexes. The funding to be made available for these purposes will be finalised following the publication of the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2009.
