Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We will move to No. 3, correspondence. As previously agreed, items that were not flagged for discussion at this meeting will continue to be dealt with in accordance with the proposed actions that have been circulated. Decisions taken by the committee in relation to correspondence are recorded in the minutes of the committee meetings and published on the committee's web page. The secretariat has done a lot of work to get this correspondence ready for the meeting because a substantial amount was received over the summer period.

The first category of correspondence under which members have flagged matters for discussion is category B, correspondence from Accounting Officers and-or Ministers and follow-up to committee meetings. No. R2022B, from Mr. Graham Doyle, Secretary General, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is dated 6 July and provides information that we requested at our meeting on 1 June 2023. It is proposed to note and publish this correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I flagged No. R2022B for discussion. The issue is under-performance regarding the number of local authority social housing builds. The figure trotted out indicated there were 1,666 direct builds, in other words, local authorities directly did the design and procurement and used contractors to finish the building. A total of 1,666 such units were delivered. The overall number, including approved housing bodies, AHBs, and so on, indicates that local authorities have completely under-performed. A string of local authorities is listed on pages 3 and 4. I know people in the local authorities state that the Department is holding up matters. The statement shows figures for Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Louth. Delivery in Offaly in my constituency was very bad. Only three units were delivered in Roscommon. In Sligo, a big county, only 13 units were delivered. I suggest we flag this matter for discussion with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage when its officials appear. In the middle of a housing crisis, we had an underspend of €1.2 billion by the end of last year.

This correspondence states in black and white that only 1,666 houses were built by local authorities. Local authority officials and councillors are complaining. This list shows the worst performing local authorities. Maybe it is not their fault but we need to find out what is going on. Some local authorities, including Roscommon, had only three units delivered. Offaly delivered 115 units but had a target of 180. A few local authorities have over-performed and exceeded their targets, including Laois. Well done to them. Clearly, there are problems between the Department and local authorities. I ask members to support my proposal to put this matter on the agenda of our next meeting with the Department.