Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Burke for raising this matter. Under Rebuilding Ireland, a total of 50,000 social housing homes will be delivered out to 2021 for those individuals and families who need them the most. Cork City Council's housing programme is a key component of the Rebuilding Ireland plan. Only recently, I spent a day in Cork with the city and county councils discussing and exploring how we can continue to work together to accelerate and increase social housing delivery in Cork.

The projects to which Senator Burke refers are projects where Cork City Council sought the delivery of social housing solutions through a competitive dialogue process or procedure. The aim of this procedure is to provide a mechanism through which the city council could engage with interested parties to deliver a significant quantum of newly constructed social housing units in addition to other housing provision methods. This involved looking at the delivery process from an assessment of suitable sites through design and planning right up to the construction and completion of homes ready for occupation by residents. My Department supports initiatives at local authority level such as this procedure entered into by Cork City Council to provide streamlined and effective solutions for social housing delivery. The council's assessment of responses resulted in a number of schemes which are short-listed to progress to dialogue phase.In total, 11 schemes were short-listed, with the combined potential to deliver 215 units of social housing at various locations in Cork city. Of the 11 projects chosen through this process, four were previously approved and have already begun construction, delivering 85 homes at a cost of just under €22 million.

I am pleased to be able to advise the House that, for further assessment by my Department of the budget request for the remaining seven projects, I have been able to provide the council with the necessary approval. I thank the Senator for continuing to raise this matter with me since early September. These seven projects will deliver a further 134 badly-needed social housing homes for families on the Cork city housing list. The first of these homes will be completed in the third quarter of next year, with the remainder following in 2019. The budget approved for these seven projects is just under €39 million.

The delivery of these projects will deliver an important development for Cork city, particularly the South Parish area. The objective of the Cork city regeneration project is to help create neighbourhoods with a distinct character and better permeability and coherency and offer significant opportunities for an improved social mix, with the potential for the inclusion of private housing development within the area. The projects will deliver on these objectives, enhancing the physical character of the local areas involved and contributing to the wider social regeneration. When I next visit Cork, I look forward to seeing the progress in this regard and on the wider portfolio of projects that the city council is advancing.