Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2018
624. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of a report in relation to the national taking in charge initiative; his plans to help estates that had valid applications for taking in charge by provision of a further funding stream; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3944/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe taking-in-charge of housing estates is a matter for the relevant local authority under section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended).
In an attempt to enhance learning and systems development and to accelerate the taking-in-charge process, my Department launched the National Taking-in-Charge Initiative (NTICI) in April 2016. The Initiative was set up on a time-bound basis in order to better understand and stimulate the taking-in-charge process, due to the backlog of estates waiting to be taken in charge.
Under the terms of the NTICI, which was underpinned by €10m in funding, developments subject to valid taking-in-charge applications were eligible for inclusion in a call for funding proposals. €7.7 million of the allocated funding was paid to local authorities in respect of 330 developments, containing some 13,400 units.
While the NTICI was not intended as a rolling funding programme for taking estates in charge but provided instead a focused examination of the issues involved, building on the lessons learned through this programme, I expect that the initiative will contribute to further streamlining of the taking-in-charge process, through for example synergies with capital works by Irish Water.
A report on the 2016 NTICI is currently being finalised by my Department which will help to inform future taking-in-charge plans. It is envisaged that the report will be published in Q1 2018.
