James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for the important question on MMC. A dissemination programme is currently being developed by my Department and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to promote the use of these approaches in the education and construction sectors. These standardised designs build on my Department's existing design manual for quality housing, for example, for social housing and the LDA's Apartment Typology Booklet, which also include designs to promote the use of MMC for social housing and apartments. In addition, my Department's accelerated delivery programme supports the development of new social homes using MMC. The delivery of at least 1,500 new homes across a total of 36 sites and 13 local authorities has been prioritised and enabled through the use of a streamlined design and build procurement approach that facilitates MMC. Approximately 1,250 homes are being constructed using this procurement approach. The Government is committed to supporting all forms of MMC to encourage greater innovation in construction. The 2D approaches using panelised systems are quite widespread, with 3D volumetric approaches still in a more embryonic phase.

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