Dáil debates

Thursday, 23 April 2015

Other Questions

Local Authority Housing

10:10 am

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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6. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which the various local authorities have made overtures to his Department seeking funding in respect of local authority housing; the number of housing units acquired to date on foot of this initiative in County Kildare and other counties adjacent to Dublin; the extent to which new applications for housing, or indications of homelessness, are being received by the relevant local authorities; if he is satisfied that the measures taken to date are adequate to deal with the situation which arose as a result of a lack of provision for direct build local authority houses, and through the local authority loans fund, over many years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15683/15]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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This question attempts to ascertain the extent to which the various local authorities in the greater Dublin area, including the adjacent counties, have had contact with the Department with a view to identifying the degree to which they propose to be able to activate the housing programme in the shortest possible time.

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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As the Deputy is well aware, I announced delivery targets under the social housing strategy for all local authorities which took into account proposals submitted by the local authorities themselves for the delivery of units for the period 2015 to 2017. It is important to stress that every local authority, including the Deputy's local authority, had to put forward their own proposals. They were best positioned to evaluate what was necessary in Kildare, or in Dublin or elsewhere, so they put forward their own submissions. These new proposals are being assessed by my Department and I expect, as the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, said, to make announcements very soon on projects to be advanced across the country and to be doing that continually for the rest of my time in this Department as projects are rolled out. I am fully committed to ensuring that this is done in the speediest fashion possible.

The scale of ambition represented in these targets and the accompanying funding allocations illustrate that housing is the highest priority for Government. Over €1.5 billion is to be invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes which will, when completed, accommodate an average of 25% of those on local authority waiting lists. That varies depending on the scale of the lists across the local authorities.

Details of all social housing units acquired or developed by local authorities to date, including Kildare, are published on my Department’s website, as are quarterly and monthly reports on homelessness which are provided by housing authorities through the pathway accommodation and support system. Information on housing applications is captured in the statutory assessment of housing need, which was last carried out in 2013 and which indicated almost 90,000 households on local authority housing lists nationally. Under the reforms proposed in the social housing strategy, and I believe every Deputy will welcome this, it is my intention that housing needs assessments will be carried out on an annual basis because we need this information much quicker and rather than doing it on a biannual basis or every two or three years, we will be doing that every single year.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. Given that there are almost 7,000 families on the waiting list in County Kildare, does he believe that the indications, based on the information to date, are that it will be possible to meet the most urgent cases, namely, those who are homeless and those likely to become homeless in the near future, within a reasonable time?

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The answer to that question is "Yes". We have worked with every local authority, including the local authority in the Deputy's constituency, to ensure that what they have requested is being prioritised. We are working with the local authorities on that and are being as flexible as we can to help sign off on projects that can be turned around as quickly as possible, whether that be new builds or where there is an excess of voids. It is clear to us that every local authority has unique circumstances be it an excess of voids as is the case in some local authorities or where, in fairness, local authorities have aggregated land for new builds, done the planning etc.

Regarding the local authority in the Deputy's constituency with which I am quite familiar, the priorities indicated by him and other Deputies from the area will be met, particularly in terms of those in a vulnerable situation. There are particular challenges in regard to Kildare, given that it is in the conurbation around Dublin. I am satisfied that in the past year in particular the Kildare local authority has ramped up in terms of everything it needs to do from a resource, planning and delivery point of view to hit the targets we set it, particularly with regard to vulnerable people because like other local authorities around Dublin, it has specific issues.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the current approach given that for many years nothing was happening in the housing area. Will it be possible to monitor on a monthly basis the extent to which progress is being made in those counties most severely affected by a shortage of housing and an excessive number of people on the local authority housing lists? To what extent can he do that and reassure people on those waiting lists that help is approaching?

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I am happy the Deputy asked that question because I want to outline to the House the level of management the Department is putting into this as it is such an important issue. All the local authority housing managers and directors are currently meeting with my Department. That is the level of seriousness with which we are taking this issue. Yesterday, myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, chaired the social housing oversight group which meets every month to ensure that everything is happening in that regard. Also, a meeting is taking place this week with the approved housing bodies.

We have targets, and measures to judge those targets. They are checked on a weekly and monthly basis. We have zoned in on pressure areas in particular. We have heat mapped the country. We have identified the absolute priorities in regard to housing and we will concentrate on those in particular. For instance, as regards housing in Dublin, a meeting takes place at 9 o'clock every Monday morning involving the Dublin task force and Dublin City Council. That is the priority our Department is giving this issue.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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On Question No. 7, the Deputy is not present so it will be replied to with Written Answers.

Question No. 7 replied to with Written Answers.