James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss with the select committee my Department’s Supplementary Estimate for 2025. I am joined this afternoon by the following officials from my Department: Mr. David Kelly, assistant secretary, homelessness, rental and social inclusion division; Ms Marguerite Ryan, assistant secretary, corporate and business support division; Mr. Daniel Sinnott, finance officer; and Ms Emer Dalton, principal officer, social housing delivery division.

I very much appreciate that this committee has convened at short notice to consider this Supplementary Estimate. I will accordingly keep my opening remarks brief and focused on the matters at hand.

The Supplementary Estimate to be discussed today builds on the significant allocation provided to my Department in budget 2025 and the additional €1.4 billion in capital funding approved in the course of the year. This represents a very substantial element of overall Government expenditure in 2025 and is instrumental in delivering key objectives across all areas under the remit of my Department.

The Supplementary Estimate before the committee today covers substantive additional funding of €299 million for current expenditure. It also provides for the reallocation of €174 million within my Department's existing capital allocation through a technical Supplementary Estimate.

As committee members will be aware, this process does not result in a net increase in funds, but rather it will allow the movement of funds to the appropriate subheads to match the recoupment of claims anticipated across various social and affordable housing schemes. It will also facilitate the ongoing contribution to local authorities’ stranded costs, which arise in the context of ongoing transformation of the water sector. I would like to make very clear that this redistribution of funding will have no net effect on the total amount of capital allocated to the housing programme.

In relation to the substantive Supplementary Estimate, a total of €299 million is being provided for additional current expenditure, of which €271 million is to be provided for various areas across the housing programme. Of this, €84 million is being provided for the social housing current expenditure programme. The overall costs of this programme are driven by the addition of new units, increases in new unit costs and increased rent review costs for existing units.

A figure of €157.2 million is being provided for accommodation for homeless to address the 2025 cost of emergency accommodation and the provision of homeless services. The remaining allocation to housing is being provided for the housing assistance payment scheme, the residential accommodation scheme, the capital loans and subsidy scheme, the Residential Tenancies Board and to cover certain legal expenses that arose in 2025.

Outside of the housing programme, the main funding to be provided is €25 million to cover exceptional local authority costs arising from the severe effects of Storm Éowyn. The remaining €3.3 million in funding is being provided to the local government programme to fund agreed payments to retained firefighters, to Waterways Ireland to deal with increased maintenance costs on canals and to the National Parks and Wildlife Service to continue delivery of actions on the fourth national biodiversity action plan.

In relation to the technical Supplementary Estimates, in addition to the request for substantive changes, this supplementary will also provide for the reallocation of funding of €174 million within the Department’s allocation. This includes €55 million of non-housing funds not expected to be drawn down this year in order to cover local authority stranded costs. It will also allow for the movement of €119 million within capital subheads in the housing programme to accommodate variances in the timing of payments and support continued delivery of social and affordable housing units.

In this context I wish to mention briefly Ireland’s new national housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities,which was published on 13 November. The plan is built on two pillars, namely, activating supply and supporting people. Pillar 1 focuses on activating the supply of 300,000 homes. This will be achieved through activating more land, providing more housing-related infrastructure, securing more development finance for home building, addressing viability challenges, particularly those seen in apartment delivery, increasing the adoption of modern methods of construction, increasing the skills in the residential construction sector, and working toward ending dereliction and vacancy.

Pillar 2 details how Government will support people. It sets out a series of key actions that work towards ending homelessness, supporting affordability and addressing the housing needs of people as they progress through life. In partnership with local authorities, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and approved housing bodies, AHBs, the plan will address the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities, make buying and renting homes more affordable, and support the development of villages, towns and cities across the country.

I would note that the housing elements of the Supplementary Estimate are very much in line with the Delivering Homes, Building Communities plan, focusing as they do on the delivery of social and affordable units, the reuse of vacant and derelict homes, and the support of households that are homeless or at risk of homelessness. I have kept my remarks as brief as possible. I will, of course, be happy to deal with matters that members wish to raise and to revert to the committee if I do not have the detail with me today. I look forward to discussing the plan in the coming weeks with the committee.