Social housing targets and provisional funding allocations have been set for each local authority out to 2017 and are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41016,en.htm.
Since the launch of the Social Housing Strategy 2020 in November 2014, almost €90 million has been drawn down by local authorities under my Department’s two main capital programmes for the delivery of additional social housing units; details of this funding are as follows:
|
-
|
Local Authority Housing (€)
|
Capital Assistance Scheme (€)
|
|
Carlow County Council
|
1,499,037
|
---
|
|
Cavan County Council
|
990,466
|
102,150
|
|
Clare County Council
|
538,172
|
144,765
|
|
Cork City Council
|
1,975,001
|
---
|
|
Cork County Council
|
1,727,116
|
188,604
|
|
Donegal County Council
|
2,511,939
|
400,000
|
|
Dublin City Council
|
10,868,120
|
11,970,329
|
|
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown
|
1,260,195
|
85,365
|
|
Fingal County Council
|
7,866,633
|
2,671,158
|
|
Galway City Council
|
856,763
|
---
|
|
Galway County Council
|
2,937,476
|
406,917
|
|
Kerry County Council
|
974,847
|
---
|
|
Kildare County Council
|
4,112,999
|
412,000
|
|
Kilkenny County Council
|
442,623
|
34,933
|
|
Laois County Council
|
2,950,518
|
225,136
|
|
Leitrim County Council
|
67,257
|
---
|
|
Limerick City & County Council
|
106,768
|
---
|
|
Longford County Council
|
288,768
|
75,000
|
|
Louth County Council
|
1,696,304
|
241,836
|
|
Mayo County Council
|
621,700
|
---
|
|
Meath County Council
|
1,605,925
|
435,090
|
|
Monaghan County Council
|
1,169,103
|
247,056
|
|
Offaly County Council
|
1,665,575
|
170,000
|
|
Roscommon County Council
|
---
|
---
|
|
Sligo County Council
|
2,602,213
|
640,202
|
|
South Dublin County Council
|
7,857,852
|
1,252,875
|
|
Tipperary County Council
|
1,223,564
|
---
|
|
Waterford City & County Council
|
2,821,407
|
1,598,469
|
|
Westmeath County Council
|
1,376,342
|
---
|
|
Wexford County Council
|
1,939,218
|
1,188,226
|
|
Wicklow County Council
|
709,032
|
---
|
Furthermore, on 5 May I announced a major social housing construction programme with €312m investment. Projects are to be completed by 2017 and funding will be drawn down as required by local authorities as the projects are advanced by them. Details of this construction programme are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm.
I will announce details shortly of the 2015 funding for local authorities to address vacant social housing stock, including the breakdown of the targets and funding for each authority. The following table shows the number of units returned to productive use in 2014 and the funding provided to local authorities by my Department for this work. My Department does not maintain ongoing records of the actions of individual local authorities in this area and the progress by Dublin City Council in dealing with vacant units is a matter for the local authority.
|
Local Authority
|
Number of Units returned in 2014
|
Funding Provided in 2014
|
|
Carlow County Council
|
42
|
€325,111
|
|
Cavan County Council
|
23
|
€349,137
|
|
Clare County Council
|
65
|
€995,829
|
|
Cork City Council
|
212
|
€2,872,027
|
|
Cork County Council
|
155
|
€1,539,364
|
|
Donegal County Council
|
167
|
€919,797
|
|
Dublin City Council
|
467
|
€6,163,464
|
|
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Co Co
|
5
|
€89,896
|
|
Fingal County Council
|
165
|
€1,938,780
|
|
Galway City Council
|
24
|
€474,050
|
|
Galway County Council
|
76
|
€958,263
|
|
Kerry County Council
|
79
|
€718,938
|
|
Kildare County Council
|
49
|
€503,463
|
|
Kilkenny County Council
|
25
|
€484,430
|
|
Laois County Council
|
43
|
€257,013
|
|
Leitrim County Council
|
15
|
€229,072
|
|
Limerick City & County Council
|
98
|
€915,969
|
|
Longford County Council
|
16
|
€313,250
|
|
Louth County Council
|
18
|
€113,620
|
|
Mayo County Council
|
80
|
€464,508
|
|
Meath County Council
|
59
|
€1,037,501
|
|
Monaghan County Council
|
21
|
€92,751
|
|
Offaly County Council
|
35
|
€514,000
|
|
Roscommon County Council
|
34
|
€224,028
|
|
Sligo County Council
|
29
|
€311,648
|
|
South Dublin County Council
|
92
|
€627,408
|
|
Tipperary County Council
|
86
|
€935,801
|
|
Waterford City & County Council
|
42
|
€605,428
|
|
Westmeath County Council
|
56
|
€396,518
|
|
Wexford County Council
|
20
|
€316,307
|
|
Wicklow County Council
|
35
|
€650,204
|
|
TOTALS
|
2,333
|
€26,310,575
|
Successfully tackling the current homelessness issue demands that a higher priority be afforded to homeless households in the allocation of housing. Accordingly, I issued a Direction to a number of key housing authorities on 27 January 2015 to prioritise homeless and other vulnerable households. This Direction applies for six months, from 27 January 2015 to 26 July 2015. Under this Direction, each of the Dublin housing authorities must ensure that at least 50% of the dwellings available for allocation under Section 22 of the 2009 Act during the specified period will be allocated to such households that had qualified for social housing support on or before 1 December 2014. Data submitted by housing authorities in the Dublin Region indicated that a total of 597 units were allocated in the Dublin Region, under Section 22, in the three-month period, since the Direction was introduced of which approximately 38% were allocated to homeless and other vulnerable households.
I am making an additional €10.5 million of ‘Section 10’ funding available for homeless accommodation and services across the country in 2015. This is an increase in funding of over 20%, bringing the Exchequer contribution to €55.5 million. The 2015 regional allocations are currently being finalised with a view to their confirmation shortly. To date in 2015, my Department has recouped €12,528,889 in ‘Section 10’ funding to Dublin City Council.
South Dublin County Council has recently completed the purchase of a NAMA apartment block, as the preferred alternative to a hotel property, which will operate as an assessment centre for homeless families providing 65 units of accommodation. A service level agreement has been put in place with a provider and it is expected that this facility will be fully operational by June.
