Mr. Eddie Taaffe:

My name is Eddie Taaffe. I am chief executive of Wexford County Council and I chair of the County and City Management Association committee on housing. I am accompanied today by Ms Elaine Leech, director of services for South Dublin County Council. On behalf of the CCMA, I thank the committee for its invitation to contribute to discussions regarding the challenges facing the delivery of housing in Ireland.

Local authorities are at the heart of housing provision in Ireland and while significant progress has been made, further co-ordinated support is essential to scale up delivery. Local authorities have delivered 24,000 social houses over the period of the current housing for all programme from 2022 to date. The new programme for Government sets out the clear ambition of delivering 12,000 new social homes each year through local authorities and approved housing bodies. This will therefore require a 50% increase in annual output. The scale of that is simply not feasible without urgent structural support.

The CCMA strongly believes that achieving this scale of delivery requires co-ordinated action across several critical enablers. First, the availability and timely access to suitably zoned and serviced land is essential. Without the right land in the right locations, delivery timelines and targets are immediately at risk. Second, local authorities must be equipped with adequate staffing levels and access to the necessary skills, expertise and resources to manage the full project life cycle from design to procurement and through to completion. Third, effective and streamlined procurement and approval processes are required to ensure that projects can progress without unnecessary delay. Underlying all of this is the assumption that the necessary State funding is in place. This includes both the upfront capital needed to fund builds and the borrowing capacity to support cost-rental delivery which forms a vital part of the housing mix. Without sustained financial support, even the most well-designed plans cannot be fully realised.

Delving into the key challenges in detail, the first one is infrastructure and serviced land. One of the most pressing barriers is the lack of servicing infrastructure. Local authorities have identified over 560 landbanks suitable for housing development with a capacity for about 21,500 social and affordable homes. However, 28% of these sites cannot proceed due to inadequate access to essential services, such as water, wastewater and electricity. Utility investment plans need to be fully aligned with local housing strategies. Uisce Éireann and the ESB must co-ordinate with local authorities to proactively service strategic growth areas. The CCMA believes that housing delivery must be backed by dedicated, ring-fenced infrastructure funding aligned with the investment strategies of key utility providers. Infrastructure and utilities must be delivered in tandem with housing to avoid bottlenecks and to unlock development-ready land and accelerated delivery timelines.

The second key challenge is staffing and resourcing. The capacity of housing teams within local authorities is under severe stress. While responsibilities have expanded significantly across all functions, including allocations, estate management, homeless services, energy retrofits and support for vulnerable groups, staffing levels have not kept pace. The complexity of cases has also increased. Many applicants present with intersecting needs, such as mental health challenges, disability and language barriers. Without adequate staffing and specialised supports, our ability to respond effectively and compassionately is compromised. The CCMA in consultation with the Department has established a working group to assess current staffing models and identify what is needed for future delivery. Local authorities require increased staffing levels and sustainable funding for capital delivery teams. These teams are essential to driving programmes forward but they must be adequately resourced to manage the scale and complexity of delivery, particularly in light of new actions under the housing plan.

The third key challenge is the delivery of mixed-tenure and affordable housing. Local authorities have made significant strides under housing for all, delivering over 24,000 social homes and 1,600 affordable homes since 2022 along with 102 cost-rental units. To ensure future housing is both sustainable and inclusive, the delivery of mixed-tenure developments combining social, affordable and cost rental is critical. These schemes support balanced communities and should be complemented by access to schools, healthcare and public amenities. However, current policy mechanisms need to go further. The scale of housing need now calls for enhanced support for affordable housing delivery and streamlined procurement processes to enable more agile responses, including greater use of modern methods of construction.

The fourth key challenge is procurement and approval processes. Local authorities are increasingly using design-and-build procurement processes which is to be welcomed. In addition, delivery of larger mixed-tenure schemes via licence or development agreements is also becoming increasingly prevalent. Increasing use of this procurement procedure should be encouraged as there are demonstrable efficiencies both in project management resources and time savings. The sector must see a strategic application of modern methods of construction alongside procurement models that are fit for purpose, ones that reflect the urgency, pace and scale of the national housing need.

The CCMA believes stronger and more integrated planning and co-ordination of capital programmes is needed in full alignment with the national planning framework to ensure delivery is targeted, efficient and sustainable. Local authorities remain fully committed to delivering housing at scale, but to turn ambition into reality we need resources, infrastructure and systems to support that effort.