John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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11. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on the delivery of affordable and social housing in Cork city and county, including the expected number of units to be completed in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53206/25]

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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I ask for an update on delivery of affordable and social housing in Cork city and Cork county, including the expected number of units to be completed in 2025. Perhaps the Minister of State will make a statement on the matter.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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Cork City Council has a target to deliver 592 new build social homes in 2025. The social housing construction status report, CSR, shows that there were 1,084 homes on site at various stages of design and procurement in Cork city at the end of Q1 of 2025. Cork county has a target of 683 new-build social homes this year. The CSR shows that there are 1,203 homes on site at various stages of design and procurement in Cork county. The CSR also shows that 308 new social homes were added to the pipeline across both local authorities in Q1. The number of social homes already in the pipeline, and the addition of new construction schemes to the pipeline, shows the strength of the Cork City Council and Cork County Council social housing build programmes.

On affordable housing, under Housing For All the affordable housing delivery target for 2025 is 6,400 and a very strong pipeline is in place across the delivery partners. Since the launch, over 14,500 affordable housing supports have been delivered by various delivery partners. This includes 2,000 in Cork. Building on this progress my Department will continue to engage with all delivery partners to further develop the affordable housing delivery pipeline for 2025 and beyond, which will be supported by the largest ever investment in social and affordable housing in the State with a budget of €4.16 billion available for 2026.

Further to that, the target for all homes over the period of the new plan will be 300,000 homes. We saw the budget decisions yesterday, with 10,200 social homes budgeted for in 2026, and a €3 billion budget for affordable homes. The State contribution towards the provision of housing has gone from €6.9 billion with a significant increase up to €9 billion.

The Deputy will know, as a former Cork county councillor, that the delivery in Cork county, in particular, is very strong and must be commended.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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It is good to see that those figures are quite high and strong, that Cork City Council has a target of 592 houses this year, and that Cork County Council has 683. This will bring in the bones of 1,200 new social houses into the system in Cork city and county for 2025.

I very much welcome that almost 2,100 units are in the pipeline between Cork city and county. It is important that both local authorities would strive to continue to build social homes within Cork city and county.

Being a west Cork native, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, will know the good work that is going on right across the county. I had the pleasure of taking the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, to social housing projects in Macroom and Coachford recently and I see the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, visited many projects right across Cork county in the past weeks. It is good to see progress is being made but certainly from a social housing perspective, I would like to see that good work continue right throughout this year and into the future.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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If all local authorities were able to match the rate of delivery of Cork county then the rate of delivery of social housing and affordable housing right across the board would be much stronger. I commend the work of the councillors and the local authority there, of which the Deputy was recently a member.

There are some specifics in relation to Cork North-West, if the Deputy is interested. The Deputy mentioned Macroom. There are 16 units in An Clós in Macroom that are substantially complete. There are two units at Mill Road in Kanturk, which are on site. Percival Street in Kanturk has six units and the builders are on site there as well. It is the same with Market Place in Kanturk. Dr. Croke Place in Kanturk has one unit. In Macroom there are 23 units at Clós an tSuláin, as well as 48 units on the Kilmallock Road in Charleville. Even in the Deputy's area of Cork North-West he can see that Cork County Council is really accelerating and progressing the rate of delivery of social housing, which is impressive. We just need to keep pushing on and making sure that they are supported by us to do that.

John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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Yes indeed there are many projects right across Cork North-West that are at an advanced stage of development. Fingers crossed that with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and O'Sullivan, we will see many more projects opened in the coming years.

I also want to mention the affordable housing targets that are set out as part of Cork City Council and Cork County Council plans in Housing For All. A significant development has been made in the affordable housing sector, particularly for Cork County Council which achieved more than its targets for last year and for this year so far. It is good to see that we are accommodating affordable housing for people across Cork county. The Minister of State will know that it is a very large and a very diverse county and geographically it is significant. It is important to offer that option of affordable housing right across constituencies - we have five constituencies in Cork - and in such a big geographical area and also that we continue to offer affordable housing not only in our larger towns but also in our smaller towns.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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Fair play to Deputy O'Shea for taking this opportunity to raise the issue. We cannot rest on our laurels. There is a lot more work to be done. There are still plenty of people in Cork county who need social homes. There is a huge demand for affordable homes so we absolutely need to accelerate that delivery. The Deputy is right in saying that when Cork County Council got the go ahead to deliver affordable homes, it was not long in putting schemes into place. It has also been strong with croí cónaithe, as well as with the first home scheme. There is a variety of opportunities there to provide housing solutions for people. I appreciate the Deputy asking this question. If there are any other specifics then the Department can come back to the Deputy on the affordable housing schemes or the social housing schemes.