Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 March 2018
635. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if approved housing bodies are reclassified by Eurostat; the level of new departmental oversight this reclassification will lead to; and if his Department will have oversight over issues such as funding and staffing approval. [10952/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, in December 2017 the Central Statistics Office (CSO) made a decision that 14 of the 16 largest Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) examined (i.e. those with 300+ homes in their property portfolios) in the initial phase of the review should be re-classified as falling within the public sector, under the broad local government classification.
This decision was sent to Eurostat, the EU Statistical Office, for their consideration and ultimate determination and the CSO received confirmation of their consenting decision on 5 March 2018.
A Working Group involving officials from my Department, the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Housing Agency, and the Housing Finance Agency, will be established shortly to consider fully the implications of this decision. This will include assessing the need for any additional oversight of the AHB sector, given the change in classification.
It should be noted that, to qualify for approval as an Approved Housing Body, these organisations are required to be either a Limited Company, or Society registered or a Trust incorporated under the Charities Acts and are therefore private entities within their own right. Their boards decide their own strategic and management priorities, deal with staffing and resource issues and make decisions on entering contracts, taking out loans and bearing the risk of developing new projects.
Notwithstanding the assessment by the CSO, the Government still sees an important role for the voluntary housing sector in contributing to delivery of social housing under Rebuilding Ireland, and intends to press ahead with the ambitious plans to use all mechanisms and schemes, including through the AHB sector, to ensure that we maintain our planned momentum towards meeting the 50,000 Rebuilding Ireland social housing target.
