Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I always bring good news to the House. I am very familiar with Stanley Street. It is in a beautiful part of Dublin city. I was in Stoneybatter last week and it, too, is a wonderful and historic part of Dublin. It is also an important part of the city's sustainability.

Building on the successful model of social housing, including public private partnerships, PPPs, introduced in recent years, which will deliver in the region of 15,000 social homes across three bundles nationally, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is increasing the use of PPPs to deliver social housing under Housing for All. The social housing PPP programme involves a partnership approach. Following the launch of Housing for All, the Department has been actively engaged with relevant stakeholders, including the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, housing delivery and co-ordination office and Dublin City Council, with its experience as lead local authority for bundles 1 and 3, to support the roll-out of the new programme of PPPs.

The homes are being delivered using an availability-based PPP model in which a private sector company designs, builds, finances, maintains and operates social housing developments in return for a monthly payment from the State. The unitary charge paid during the operation period, usually 25 years, only commences once construction has been completed. The charge is subject to the performance of required services and availability of the homes for social housing tenants, with deductions to these payments being applied where required standards are not met. The PPP model provides a delivery structure whereby social housing units remain in State ownership throughout.

Regarding progress to date, construction was completed on bundles 1 and 2 in 2021. These delivered 534 and 465 homes, respectively, across 14 sites. The procurement process for bundle 3, which will deliver 486 new social houses and apartments across six sites, commenced in quarter 4 of 2022. In June 2022, bundles 4 and 5 of the new programme were announced. These will deliver in the region of 16,000 new homes. Bundle 6 was announced in January 2023 and is expected to provide approximately 500 new homes.

The Stanley Street depot forms part of bundle 4, which is currently advancing through design development, with a number of layout options being considered for the site. The site has a capacity to deliver up to 175 new social homes subject to the most appropriate layout option being selected. Construction work on bundle 3 is expected to commence in 2024, with homes being delivered in the first quarter of 2026. Commencement of further bundles will allow, on a phased basis, home completions in bundle 4, which includes the Stanley Street depot, and bundles 5 and 6 towards the end of 2026 and throughout 2027, subject to the statutory planning process. I will make a supplementary response after the Senator replies.