Mr. Paddy Mahon:

I thank the committee for its invitation to attend this afternoon's meeting to discuss the implementation of Housing for All, particularly with regard to Longford. Over the four-year period from 2018 to 2021, Longford County Council delivered 331 homes against a set target of 309 under the Rebuilding Ireland programme. Longford County Council's housing delivery plan for 2022 to 2026 outlines the delivery of 391 new homes over the five-year period. At the end of this year, it is projected that 130 homes will be delivered under the plan. Longford County Council uses a number of delivery schemes, including the direct provision of units through the four-stage and single processes, turnkeys and approved housing bodies.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Longford County Council appointed a vacant homes officer. The preliminary Central Statistics Office, CSO, report for 2022 shows the level of vacancy in County Longford as 12.1% compared with the national average of 7.8%. This is a reduction from the 15.2% reported in 2016. We also recorded a significant increase in population during that period. This might explain some of the reduction.

We recently began a compulsory purchase order, CPO, process after a number of years of inactivity in that area. We have acquired five properties through CPO. A further six units were brought into use through repair and lease and another three applications are under review. Since 2020, 12 homes have been secured through the buy and renew scheme. We are examining at least nine applications submitted through the Croí Cónaithe scheme. We are seeing a decent level of interest in this scheme in the county. A further promotional campaign to bring vacant properties into reuse is due to commence in the coming weeks.

Homeless presentations have almost doubled since 2020, rising from 78 in 2020 to 151 in 2022. Longford County Council work with Depaul in Longford for adult homeless and Teach Fáilte in Mullingar with regard to homeless women and children. Initial discussions have commenced regarding the provision of sheltered women’s accommodation in Longford.

Part V delivery is not active in Longford at present because it is dependent on the level of construction activity in the private sector. Longford has little or no development at significant scale in the private sector. There are 17 approved planning applications that could potentially deliver 50 Part V homes if they are activated in the coming years. Stimulating this market is a key objective for us and everybody in the county.

Town Centre First and regeneration are also priorities for Longford County Council and have been for a number of years. We hope to appoint a town regeneration officer in the coming months. The housing section works with other areas of the council, including planning, finance, regeneration and active travel, to acquire properties, focus on and lead the regeneration of Longford town and deliver housing generally on brownfield sites in the town centre. Over the past two years, 28 age-friendly type houses were provided in County Longford and 70 local authority homes were adapted for individuals with a disability at a cost of just over €575,000. A total of 443 private houses also received grants during this period.

With regard to climate action, we are involved in the midlands energy retrofit programme and the national energy retrofit programme. In recent years, a total of 78 upgrades have been carried out at a cost of more than €3 million. While all of this is not recouped by the local authority, it has delivered significant energy savings for the occupiers of the houses. We are on site at 32 homes at present.

The key priority for Longford County Council is affordable housing. While the current model does not facilitate the inclusion of County Longford in a scheme, in recent months we have had a number of positive engagements with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We hope to advertise shortly for expressions of interest for a scheme that will work for us in Longford. It is very important to acknowledge the great support we get from the Department and the housing delivery co-ordination office. We got sanction for seven additional staff for the purpose of housing delivery.

It is our ambition to achieve our housing plan. The risk factors with regard to achieving successful implementation are probably similar to those for other local authorities and include construction cost inflation and supply chain issues. With regard to Part 8 approvals, we will have a municipal district meeting tomorrow and it is on the agenda. There are risks associated with it, particularly the lack of affordable housing in our county. Although we face challenges, considerable work is under way to achieve the targets and, indeed, to exceed them to ensure Housing for All is delivered successfully in our county. I thank the committee and we welcome questions.