Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Ceisteanna (1215, 1249)

Eoin Ó Broin

Ceist:

1215. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF; the amount of funding awarded to date; and the amount of funding awarded per project to date. [5707/20]

Eoin Ó Broin

Ceist:

1249. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the funding allocated and drawn down under the LIHAF to date; the number of recipients; the details of each; the number of units delivered; the number of discounted units delivered; and the price of each. [4478/20]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1215 and 1249 together.

As an initiative of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) is primarily designed to fund the provision of public off-site infrastructure to relieve critical infrastructure blockages and enable housing developments to be built on key sites at scale.

30 projects received final LIHAF approval with an overall budget of €195.7m, of which €146.8m will be Exchequer funded, with the remainder funded via local authorities. Of the 30 projects, Kildare County Council has confirmed that its project on the Naas Inner Relief Road will not now progress, although an element of the housing that was associated with the project has taken place.

Details of the approvals by local authority area, budget allocation, project description and projected housing delivery are available at www.rebuildingireland.ie/LIHAF .

Currently, 3 LIHAF projects have completed infrastructure construction. Of the remaining 26, up to the end of April (and excluding the Naas project), 14 projects have been approved to go to, or are already at, infrastructure construction stage. Of the remaining 12 projects, 3 are expected to have tenders approved and go to construction before the end of Q3 2020. Nine are not yet ready to go to infrastructure tender stage which is required in order to receive approval to proceed to construction. My Department is reviewing these projects and considering requests from local authorities for extensions to the funding agreements as and when they arise.

In terms of LIHAF funding drawdown, thus far, most infrastructure projects have been at the design, planning and procurement stages, and the bulk of expenditure will arise during the construction phase. This is reflected in the level of expenditure to end Q1 2020, with approximately €37.731 million in Exchequer funds drawn down (matched by a further 25% local authority funding bringing the total expenditure to €50.308m). The following table details the exchequer funding drawn down up to end of Q1 2020.

Local Authority	Project name	Drawdown of LIHAF funding Exchequer Contribution to end of Q1 2020 (€)
Clare	Claureen, Ennis	157,919
Cork City	Old Whitechurch Road	5,316,356
Cork City	South Docks	714,798
Cork City	Glanmire	490,751
Cork County	Midleton (Water-rock)	358,044
Cork County	Carrigaline	450,000
Dublin City	Dodder Bridge	473,487
Dublin City	Belmayne and Clongriffin	325,710
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown	Cherrywood	2,738,281
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown	Woodbrook Shanganagh	0
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown	Clay Farm	0
Fingal	Donabate Distributor Road	10,780,000
Fingal	Oldtown Mooretown	2,724,266
Fingal	Baldoyle Stapolin	274,561
Kildare	Naas	470,190
Kildare	Maynooth	390,556
Kildare	Sallins	654,584
Kilkenny	Ferrybank	225,435
Kilkenny	Western Environs	4,267,655
Limerick	Mungret	2,010,471
Louth	Newtown Drogheda	80,672
Louth	Mount Avenue Dundalk	114,789
Meath	Ratoath	814,063
Meath	Farganstown, Navan	1,953,988
South Dublin	Kilcarbery/Corkagh Grange	818,081
South Dublin	Clonburris SDZ	23,658
South Dublin	Adamstown	753,735
Waterford City and County Council	Gracedieu	112,234
Waterford City and County Council	Kilbarry	154,590
Westmeath	Brawny Road, Athlone	82,500

In terms of homes delivered, the following table details the number of completed homes up to Q4 2019. Figures in respect of Q1 2020 are currently being collated. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 emergency, local authorities had estimated that a further 4,000 homes would be delivered in 2020; it is not yet clear what impact the pandemic will have on LIHAF delivery.

Local Authority	Project Name	Residential Units Delivered to Date	Social/Part V	Cost Reduced/More Affordable
Cork County	Carrigaline	180	0	0
Fingal	Oldtown/Mooretown	379	8	211
Kildare	Naas	190	15	150
Meath	Ratoath	106	2	10
South Dublin	Adamstown SDZ	1,202	120	459
Cork City	Glanmire	13	0	3
Fingal	Donabate	66	0	66
Limerick	Mungret	26	0	26
	Total	2,162	145	925

The individual sales price of homes that are delivered following the construction of the LIHAF facilitating infrastructure is not available in my Department. However, by way of example, Meath County Council has confirmed it will be offering units at Ratoath at a discount of 10% to the relevant open market prices. In Cork City, the LIHAF project at Glanmire will see 110 homes delivered with a discount of approx. €20,000 each on the open market price.