Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In October 2015, the Government approved a programme to deliver 500 units of rapid-delivery housing across the Dublin region for homeless families currently residing in commercial hotels. InNovember 2015, Dublin City Council entered into a contract for the delivery of the 22 units in Ballymun at a cost of €4.2 million excluding VAT. This is the original tender cost and remains the approved cost, equating to approximately €191,000, excluding VAT per unit. I understand that final accounts between the council and the provider are pending. The 22 units have been completed and are being occupied. The average cost of these units must be considered in the context of their early delivery and the quality involved. It is highly unlikely that purchasing properties on the open market could have delivered sufficient quantities of such high quality units in suitable locations in such a short period, given the timescales inherent in surveying and conveyance requirements which would attach to each individual property. It must also be borne in mind, in terms of making cost comparisons, that many units purchased on the open market, particularly second-hand units, would require further expenditure in respect of renovations that may be required to bring them up to standard.

Notwithstanding this, the acquisition of units on the open market remains an important part of the overall social housing programme. More than 1,000 units were acquired for social housing across all local authorities in 2015 and a similar number is planned for this year.

With regard to the cost of the rapid-build units in Ballymun, I expect that if we can increase the number delivered significantly, we should achieve economies of scale and get the cost down. We will have to wait to see what the final cost will be to Dublin City Council from the provider but the Department signed off on a cost of €4.2 million, or approximately €191,000 per unit. This was a pilot project and it was the first time we took a rapid housing delivery approach. We have learned some lessons. It has taken longer than expected and the units may be slighted more expensive than expected. Learning lessons from that, I hope we will be able to deliver units quickly with rapid-build technology in the future and build on the experience of the first project, which was a pilot project that is still housing 22 families.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Sometimes there is a misunderstanding regarding the difference between rapid-build technologies and engineering solutions and modular housing units as if we are somehow building the trailers parks of the future. That is not what we are doing. Anybody who has visited the Ballymun project has seen houses that look like many other houses that have been built through normal construction methods. A strategic decision was taken at some point to construct rapid-build units instead of using modular housing units which would perhaps be more temporary.

Timber-frame house building was frowned upon and questioned 15 years ago, but has subsequently become the norm for many people. My understanding is that the houses in Ballymun have a life expectancy of 60 years, so this should not simply be temporary accommodation. We are talking about building proper homes for people that manage energy appropriately and are high-quality builds that can be built far more quickly than buildings delivered through conventional methods.

I am emphasising the point that I would like to see chief executives using rapid-build technologies if this can solve problems within their communities, along with other strategies around acquisition and so on, because of the figures we saw yesterday, which are yet another reminder of the urgency with which we need to deal with this issue by getting more supply into the marketplace from a social housing perspective.