Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 125: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown of the amount of funding made available to Ballymun Regeneration Limited for the refurbishment of Silloge 4; and the total cost per unit for the 122 local authority houses, including the ground works and underground services at Silloge 4. [33517/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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My Department has been working closely with Ballymun Regeneration Ltd. and Dublin City Council to ensure that the housing units at Sillogue 4 are satisfactorily completed and are used to provide much needed new housing for the remaining families and households in the blocks and towers. To date the project has received funding of €33.07 million, for the planning/design, ground works, services and construction. This equates to €267,000 per unit for the 124 units and reflects the high cost of services and works contracts which prevailed at the time these contracts were tendered.

My Department recently approved a budget of €9.3 million for the pyrite remediation and completion works. This budget includes the costs of the pyrite testing and remediation, security, and the completion works. It should be noted, however, that Ballymun Regeneration Ltd. with the Contractor - James Elliot Construction - are examining all available legal avenues for the recovery of costs for the remediation works to this project which, if successful, will ultimately defray the public expense on this element of the project.

In the context of the substantial investment to date in the Ballymun Regeneration Programme and the housing need of the families still living in the blocks and towers, it was determined that it is in the public interest to see the 124 units at Sillogue 4 completed and tenanted as soon as possible and without prejudice to the outcome of a potentially lengthy and complex legal challenge.