Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2017
299. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the extent to which the number of families deemed homeless in County Kildare are likely to obtain accommodation in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52541/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra300. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of homeless persons in County Kildare that have been offered and have received accommodation from the local authority in the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52542/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra301. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of families rehoused by Kildare County Council in each of the past three years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52543/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take questions Nos. 299 to 301, inclusive, together.
Kildare County Council, along with all other local authorities, is being funded to increase significantly its delivery of social housing as part of Rebuilding Ireland. In Budget 2018, I secured €1.9 billion for housing programmes next year, a 46% increase over 2017. It will support the housing needs of 25,500 households. I have also secured additional investment for the Rebuilding Ireland overall social housing target to increase from 47,000 to 50,000 homes, with the total funding growing from €5.35 billion to over €6 billion.
An important aspect of this delivery is new social housing construction and details of all the projects under that programme are now published quarterly. The latest report, setting out the position at end Q3 2017, is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link:
http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/housing-construction-report-q3/.
This report shows a sizeable construction portfolio for County Kildare, delivering over 343 new social homes. In addition, since the end of Quarter 3, a further three new social housing construction projects, with 95 new homes, have been approved for the Kildare.
As well as the permanent accommodation solutions that are being put in place, we have also funded a new family-focused supported temporary accommodation facility in Athy, where the Council and the Peter McVerry Trust have delivered good quality, supported accommodation for 7 families who were experiencing homelessness.
In tandem with the construction programme, all local authorities have been undertaking the targeted acquisition of properties for immediate social housing use and so far this year, Kildare County Council has purchased over 90 such new social homes. Approved housing bodies (AHBs) are also very active in delivery in Kildare, as can be seen with the 87 new homes approved through the Capital Advance Leasing Facility in 2017. AHBs also delivered a further 100 new homes during 2016/17 for priority groups on the Kildare social housing waiting list through the Capital Assistance Scheme.
The remediation and re-letting of vacant social homes has also continued and between 2014 and the end of this year, around 100 social houses in Kildare will have been returned to productive use through the programme of funding support from my Department.
The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme is also supporting local authorities and AHBs for the long term leasing of houses and apartments from private owners and developers for social housing use. Currently, there are around 375 operational units under this programme in Kildare.
Over 1,300 households are also being supported currently through the HAP scheme in Kildare. This will continue to provide a flexible housing support for addressing the housing needs of households presenting as homeless to Kildare County Council.
All of these additional social homes that have been already delivered in Kildare, or will be brought on stream as projects are completed, are allocated by the Council in accordance with section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Regulations. Such allocations are a matter for the Council and accordingly, my Department does not hold information regarding their precise allocation.
