Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government has taken steps to end the housing crisis across the country. In the next six years, 35,000 units will be built through an investment of €3.8 billion. This year alone, some 7,400 units of social housing will be provided. These are all welcome developments. In the time allocated to me, I will focus on an issue I have raised before in the House. I have been in contact with the Minister's office in recent weeks regarding the allocation of funding to both Corky City Council and Cork County Council. Between 2011 and 2014, this Government allocated €30 million to the city council but, regrettably, not all those moneys were used. The figures in this regard are indisputable. Some €1 million for housing adaptation grants for older people and persons with a disability was not used. In the case of housing construction and acquisitions, €2 million was left unused. Of the money available for energy efficiency measures, €3 million was not drawn down.

There is a huge contrast between the two Cork local authorities in this regard. Over the same four-year period, the county council drew down €6 million more than it was allocated. An additional €2.3 million was given for housing adaptations and an extra €500,000 for the purpose of putting vacant units back in use. I have contacted the CEOs of both councils about their use of these moneys. It is important that the city CEO, in particular, should answer those questions on behalf of the tens of thousands of people who are waiting to be housed and deserve better when it comes to efforts to tackle housing shortages.

In addition, the latest figures for 2015 provided to me by the Department give cause for concern, with significant sums remaining to be drawn down.

Maybe it will be done in the next few weeks.

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