Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Given the constraints on resources in the years following the economic downturn, the local authority house building programme had to be reduced dramatically. This was evident in all local authority areas, including in Tipperary, where just 11 social houses were constructed by the council in the period 2012 to 2016. The focus in recent years has, instead,  been more on achieving good value acquisitions, with €6.7 million provided to Tipperary County Council in 2016 alone to fund 50 acquisitions, and a further €8 million provided so far this year for 60 acquisitions. An additional €1.5 million has been provided to support approved housing body activity in the same period.

The roll-out of the housing assistance payment, HAP, has also been of central importance to local authorities in meeting housing need, with over 900 households in Tipperary supported under the scheme last year and more than 700 supported so far in 2017. The refurbishment of vacant social housing stock has also been a priority and funding of over €3 million has been provided to Tipperary to return 200 vacant social houses to use between 2014 and 2016, with a further 58 units targeted this year but not yet completed.

Under Rebuilding Ireland, priority has been attached to achieving a very significant increase and acceleration in social housing construction. This is evident in the most recent status report, which showed more than 700 sites and approximately 11,000 new social homes at various stages of progress nationally. This status report includes 25 projects in Tipperary which, collectively, will deliver over 200 new homes for people on the county's waiting list at an estimated cost of almost €30 million. In addition, since the end of the second quarter, further projects involving the construction of 62 additional new social homes at Thurles - a site I visited myself - Nenagh, Fethard and Clonmel have been approved, supported by an additional  €9.8 million.

My Department will continue to engage actively with Tipperary County Council to deliver social housing through all available avenues, with a particular emphasis on additional construction projects. The Deputy has raised this issue with me a few times. There is no shortage of money when it comes to Tipperary's plans. We have asked the local authority there to bring forward an increased pipeline and an increased number of projects and we will address the funding with it as we go along with that. We are keen to work with the local authority to increase this supply of housing.

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