James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

It is the clear focus of this Government to increase the supply of new build social and affordable homes. As such, the decision not to proceed with the contract award for bundle 3 was not taken lightly and was made after much careful consideration of the costs involved and is ultimately the correct decision.

I cannot comment on or discuss the tendered costs for PPP bundle 3 as these numbers are part of the preferred tenderer's tender submission covered by confidentially clauses in the procurement documents and are commercially sensitive. The costs for the earlier completed PPP bundles 1 and 2 will be released in the coming months as part of the public sector benchmark process. However, I assure the Deputy that my Department, the National Development Finance Agency and the relevant local authorities remain fully committed to delivering the social housing that PPP bundle 3 was designed to provide. These 486 social homes are very much needed and remain a priority for all parties and will instead be delivered by way of an alternative procurement and delivery strategy.

I wish to highlight that the investments already made in preliminary design work and securing planning consent is not lost and will in fact facilitate delivery of the 486 homes as expeditiously as possible under a new procurement and delivery strategy. All six sites in PPP bundle 3 have full planning permission and my officials, in conjunction with the stakeholders, will now consider and agree alternative procurement and delivery strategies for these homes.

There are three sites from PPP bundle 3 with a potential of 244 social housing homes in Dublin City Council area ready for tendering though a design and build construction programme and my Department are working closely with DCC and the NDFA to advance these tenders immediately.

I want our largest local authority, Dublin City Council, to bring forward new social housing projects on its own land using the various new-build funding schemes including design and build construction projects using the social housing investment programme. In recent years, DCC has had very low delivery rates on its own land, with 177 units delivered in 2022, 323 in 2023 and only 35 completed in 2024. As part of this decision the officials in my Department will initiate, in collaboration with the NDFA, a review of PPP bundles 4 to 7.

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