Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government’s 2011 housing policy statement clearly outlines that the priority for Government will be to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support. I am addressing that priority in the context of the resources available to me. In July 2012, I announced details of a three-year funding programme of €100 million to deliver some 800 new units of voluntary and local authority-owned social housing. In 2014, funding of more than €587 million is being made available across a range of housing programmes. This includes a €50 million capital stimulus to support construction and related programmes, primarily in the housing area, including €30 million to recommence a State house building programme; €10 million for an unfinished housing estate resolution project; and €10 million for housing adaptation grants. When that is taken into account, funding for housing for 2014 is effectively maintained at 2013 levels.

With the benefit of the additional capital for new housing construction, I intend to announce details of a new social housing construction programme for local authorities for the period 2014 to 2015. I expect that up to 650 new social and voluntary homes will be delivered under these measures. I also intend to announce details of a special investment of €15 million for the retrofitting of boarded-up local authority houses to bring these back into productive use. I expect the measure will deliver some 400 homes for persons in need of social housing. The homelessness oversight group, which I established in 2013 for the purposes of reviewing the progress of the approach being advocated in the homelessness policy statement, has submitted its first report to me which is available on my Department’s website, I am currently considering the group’s recommendations.

My Department understands that some local authorities are experiencing difficulties in sourcing suitable accommodation for households transferring from rent supplement. That said, in 2013, local authorities transferred more than 4,700 households from rent supplement to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and other social housing options. Of this figure, my Department estimates some 2,400 would have been accommodated in the private rented market.

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My Department maintains regular and effective communication with housing authorities on key housing priorities. This is greatly facilitated through the City and County Managers Association, CCMA, which has a dedicated housing sub-committee in place. In spite of the financial constraints within which we are required to operate, I expect the final output across all social housing programmes for 2014 to be in the region of 5,000 new housing units.

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