Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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We would love if the senior Minister was here, but it is apt that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is here to discuss Noonan Road. He accepted the offer of the previous Deputy to visit a particular location. He might also come and look at Noonan Road where I am sure he would be welcome.

Noonan Road is the main thoroughfare, but there are three or four little side streets off it, including Fort Street, Dean Street and Finbarr's Road. We can talk about Noonan Road in general. The flats were built in the 1960s and 1970s to replace the lanes and tenements that were previously there. Since that time, it has never had any serious renovation. This is a fairly small area. It is a tight-knit and very proud community, but it is in desperate need of regeneration at this stage. Some of the blocks of flats are in a deplorable condition. Of the housing maintenance requests that come from the south-central ward in Cork city, they are dominated by issues from Noonan Road and the surrounding streets.

The regeneration of the area has been discussed for about 15 years at council level, and probably longer by the people of the community. It has not been a pipe-dream but a priority for Cork City Council. It has submitted numerous proposals to the Department yet, for some reason, it keeps turning it down. It never qualified under the apartment deep retrofit programme of 2017 to 2020. This is a community that is being neglected. Will the Minister of State explain to the people of Noonan Road why they are consistently neglected and how we will get funding from the Department for requests that are coming from the city council to do the regeneration that is so badly needed?

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Every time I meet with Cork City Council officials, I always tell them that if there is anything they need me to raise or support in the Dáil, I will do so. Noonan Road is one such issue. The apartments on Noonan Road and houses in surrounding areas are in significant need of regeneration and retrofitting. There was a Department announcement two years ago that this was going to happen and tenants and residents were delighted. We are now going into 2022 and there is no retrofitting taking place.

Some of these apartments are in dire condition. A report published in 2019 stated that one of the homes had not had hot water for 38 years - not days, weeks, or months - such were the bad conditions in this properly. There are issues with mould, damp and leaks. There are obsolete electrical fittings. There are serious issues with housing and maintenance. People are contacting me about the conditions of their bathrooms and bedrooms. Yet, Cork City Council cannot access funding. The council states that it is trying to get funding but the Government will not provide it because it wants to retrofit and regenerate the area. That is not good enough.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire and I have to go back to Cork to meet these people who live in these conditions. What answer will we give them from the Minister of State? The Government is quick to state the amount of money and support it gives to local authorities, but here we have an area that has been crying out for years. This is a community that desperately needs to be supported. This scheme would make sense. We know the cost to people trying to heat their homes is phenomenal. The situation is that older people are without heating and trying to stay warm because they cannot afford the costs.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I was trying to familiarise myself with Noonan Road earlier, although I am fairly familiar with Cork city.

Our Department launched the energy efficiency retrofitting programme in 2013 with the aim of funding the retrofit of social homes requiring insulation and energy upgrade works. Since the programme commenced in 2013, more than 73,500 units of social housing stock have been retrofitted with a total Exchequer spend of €161 million under the scheme. This Government revised the energy efficiency programme in 2021 and increased the budget for it to €65 million. The programme focuses on ensuring that the fabric of the home is upgraded and that an energy efficient heating system is provided. This revised ten-year programme will see a significant upscaling of deeper retrofit on what has been completed by local authorities in previous years. Budget 2022 will see an increased allocation of €85 million being made available, which will see approximately 2,400 homes upgraded to a building energy rating of B2 or the cost-optimal equivalent under the programme.

From 2013 to 2020, Cork City Council received funding in the amount of €21 million in respect of retrofitting works for more than 7,000 units. Cork City Council received additional funding under my Department's voids programme from 2014 to 2019 in the amount of €3.3 million. In November 2019, my Department approved funding in the amount of €90,534 to install energy and environmental monitoring equipment at eight apartments at Noonan Road. A claim received on foot of this approval has been fully paid by the Department. In July of this year, my Department received a submission from Cork City Council under the energy efficiency programme seeking funding of over €4 million for 68 apartments at Noonan Road. My Department sought clarifications on various aspects of the submission and is currently awaiting a response from Cork City Council. A decision on the funding request cannot progress until Cork City Council reverts with the information required by my Department. To date, Cork City Council has received funding approval for €9.8 million for the retrofit of 210 apartments under the energy efficiency programme. To date, 156 apartments have been completed and funding of €7.2 million recouped by Cork City Council.

My Department welcomes the efforts made by all local authorities to improve the energy efficiency of housing stock under their control. Since 2013 local authorities have drawn down in excess of €160 million under the energy efficiency programmes. Under the 2021 energy efficiency programme, Cork City Council was allocated funding in the amount of €3.3 million for 123 units. Unfortunately, none of these units will be delivered this year but we look forward to their early completion in 2022.

My Department has provided support to all local authorities this year in achieving targets agreed under the 2021 energy efficiency retrofit programme. In addition to direct grant funding, significant project management resourcing was provided to each individual local authority so that it could put in place dedicated administrative and technical supports to help it drive the energy efficiency programme. This is the responsibility of local authorities and within their competencies. My Department acknowledges the difficult environment within which local authorities have had to work in 2021 with a construction shutdown and supply chain problems impacting on delivery. We look forward to significantly improved output under this programme in 2022 and to the advancement of the retrofit works at Noonan Road.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State was trying to figure out where Noonan's Road is in Cork. To be helpful, it just behind the Bandon Road and Barrack Street area. The area is very much associated with the late Toddy O'Sullivan. I take this opportunity to put on record my condolences to his family. I am reading the Minister of State's response and it does not acknowledge the many applications made between 2009 and 2019 which did not succeed. With regard to the November 2019 funding, I am not saying it was not welcome but that was about gauges and energy monitoring systems going into flats. That is fine. There is no harm in these things but they do not make the flat warmer, drier or more comfortable. While welcome, that was a bit of a disappointment because the residents were expecting a lot more. They were expecting regeneration. This is the first time I have heard this piece regarding a decision on funding. Obviously, I will check that out but it is my understanding that the city council has put this out to e-tender and is hearing that there is no programme ready for next year.

The Minister of State should put together a programme and announce it as soon as possible. This community needs generation as much as, or perhaps more than, any community and should be considered for a pilot programme if there is not going to be an overall programme.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am looking at the Minister of State's script. In the last paragraph on the first page it is stated that between 2013 and 2020, Cork City Council received €21 million in respect of retrofitting works for 7,000 units. Did the council change light bulbs or what? A figure of €21 million to retrofit 7,000 units does not add up at all. I ask that be clarified. Cork City Council has 10,500 social housing units and the Minister of State indicated that 7,000 of these were retrofitted over a seven-year period. That means 1,000 were done a year. That does not make sense at all. That needs to be clarified. The Minister of State is right that €7 million was spent on 156 apartments. The properties of residents in areas like Wolfe Tone Street and Allen Square were done, but the residents had to campaign and blockade roads because of the condition of their houses. The works were a tremendous success. I will bring the Minister of State down to Allen Square and the residents will tell him how the works changed their lives and reduced their bills by half but all the communities around them in Baker's Road, Churchfield and Mary Aikenhead Place are living in the cold.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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With regard to the Noonan Road project, there is no further action my Department can take in respect of the submission for funding until Cork City Council provides the clarifications we are seeking. Our Department supports local authorities in improving their social housing stock through a range of programmes, including energy retrofitting, regeneration and refurbishment works on vacant properties, in order to return properties to productive use as quickly as possible. It is to be led by the local authority. As well as receiving funding support under the voids and energy efficiency programmes, Cork City Council has also been a significant beneficiary under our Department's national regeneration programme, which provided funding in excess of €280 million nationally between 2016 and 2020 across the regeneration areas. The very impressive Harbour View Road project in Knocknaheeney in the north inner city of Cork is an example of the type of energy-efficiency projects funded by our Department under the regeneration programme.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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My father lives there. It was a success.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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This is in addition to the normal large-scale regeneration and rebuild programme of works which continues to be funded by my Department in the Knocknaheeney area of Cork city.

With regard to the point Deputy Gould raised about the €21 million spent between 2013 and 2020, there were different standards of works. The funding required for 7,000 units to meet the 2013 standards is significantly different from that required to meet the current B2 standards and requirements. We are seeking clarification from Cork City Council in respect of this specific project. I ask that both Deputies help us expedite that as soon as is practicable.