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

I thank Deputy Kitt for raising this matter and I am aware of his interest in the housing area generally.

As Minister of State with responsibility for housing, I am keenly aware of the challenges we face in providing housing supports to a range of vulnerable people in County Galway and elsewhere. The Government's 2011 housing policy statement clearly outlines that the priority for the Government is to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support. The Government is responding to these needs through a variety of mechanisms and more flexible funding models.

To maximise the social housing gain from constrained resources, the social housing leasing initiative and the rental accommodation scheme each play their part. I am fully committed to capturing social housing gain from private developments. Alongside expanding the role of the approved housing bodies, AHBs, in terms of acquisitions and construction, other mechanisms will include options to purchase within the leasing model and build to lease.

As Deputy Kitt said, a relatively small number of houses were built last year. He cited a figure of 8,000 which would not be far off the mark in terms of total housing construction. Increasing both public and private housing supply is a priority for the Government. Earlier today, I was pleased to announce the restart of a local authority mainstream house building programme. Over the next two years €68 million will be invested across the country to build new social homes for families in need of housing. This investment represents the first return to new mainstream local authority house building in a number of years.

This initiative, which will see some 442 new homes built across the country for families on the waiting lists, is just one of a number of Government-backed initiatives we are launching in 2014, which will provide high-quality homes for families. I also intend to announce details of a special investment of €15 million for the retrofitting of boarded-up local authority houses to make these available to households in need of social housing. Not only will these programmes deliver new or better housing for people, they will also create and sustain hundreds of jobs in the construction and green energy sectors.

I know that Deputy Kitt is familiar with the capital assistance scheme, CAS, whereby funding of up to 100% of the cost of projects is provided to approved housing bodies, through local authorities, for the provision of accommodation for persons with specific categories of housing need, including older persons, persons with a disability or homeless persons. Over the years, the CAS scheme has funded the provision of over 27,000 units of accommodation. I am committed to the retention of this worthwhile programme.

In January, my Department requested local authorities to issue a call for proposals under the CAS scheme, requesting approved housing bodies to put forward cost-effective and sustainable proposals to meet the accommodation needs of people with specific categories of housing need within their administrative areas. Local authorities are required to submit a prioritised list of proposals to my Department by 28 March for new construction and acquisition projects to be funded and progressed over the next two years. It will be a matter for local authorities to determine the relative priority of projects on the basis of their contribution to meeting local housing need and to shortlist these in order of merit. Further consideration of CAS scheme projects for funding approval over the next two years, including projects submitted in County Galway, must await the receipt of submissions from local authorities. I therefore look forward to receiving the submissions by 28 March and we will then make decisions very quickly.

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