Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 July 2020
36. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his plans to address the lack of effectiveness and the weight of delays with the local infrastructure housing activation fund. [17630/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs 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.
In 2018, 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 June 2020 (and excluding the Naas project), 14 projects have been approved to go to, or are already at, infrastructure construction stage and one is expected to have tender approval and go to construction before the end of Q4 2020. Local authorities have indicated that work is progressing on the remainder.
It’s important to note that LIHAF projects involve complex, large scale public infrastructure developments which pave the way for associated housing development. This requires extensive design, planning, public consultation and procurement processes in advance of the projects moving to construction.
