Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to increase funding for social housing maintenance works in Budget 2013. [39065/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, the management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock, including the compilation and funding of ongoing maintenance programmes and pre-letting repairs, is the responsibility of the relevant housing authority. Housing maintenance works are funded directly by local authorities from their own resources, including from rental income and receipts from the disposal of properties and sales of houses to tenants.

Under my Department’s Social Housing Investment Programme, local authorities are allocated capital funding each year in respect of a range of measures to improve the standard and overall quality of their social housing stock, including the regeneration of large social housing estates and flat complexes, estate wide remedial works schemes, funding for extensions and adaptations to meet the needs of tenants with a disability etc. Funding has also been provided by my Department for a programme of works aimed at improving the overall standard and energy efficiency of the housing stock.

This year I allocated some €145 million to local authorities in respect of measures aimed at improving the social housing stock. €90 million of this is being provided in respect of the National Regeneration Programme for the social, economic and physical regeneration of disadvantaged social housing estates in Dublin, Limerick and Cork and in a number of regional towns around the country. €27 million is being provided in respect of some 45 estate-wide remedial works schemes in 26 local authorities with a further €10 million earmarked for extensions and adaptations to properties across all authorities. A total of €18 million is being provided for improving the quality and energy efficiency of older housing stock.

Capital allocations to local authorities next year under the various housing measures will be determined in the light of the overall budgetary provision for the Social Housing Investment Programme.