Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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473. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the amount that has been allocated towards repair and refurbishment of local authority housing in the most recent budget; the amount allocated towards energy retrofit and remediation works; the amount in each case that has been spent; if any funds allocated for either purpose in the previous five years went unspent and if so the amount; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32184/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock, including the compilation and implementation of planned maintenance programmes and the carrying out of responsive repairs and pre-letting repairs to vacant properties is a matter for each individual local authority under section 58 of the Housing Act, 1966. My Department is committed to supporting local authorities in maintaining and improving the quality of the national social housing stock through a range of measures including large-scale urban regeneration programmes, estate-wide remedial works and improving the standard and energy efficiency of individual dwellings .

This year, my Department introduced a new measure, with funding of €30 million, for the refurbishment of vacant and boarded-up houses and returning these to productive use in as short a timeframe as possible. €15 million of this was allocated to local authorities on 28 April 2014 for the refurbishment of 952 vacant houses and a further €15 million was allocated on 8 July 2014 in respect of an additional 1,000 houses. In the case of the energy retrofitting measure, just over €15 million was allocated on 12 February 2014 in respect of Phase 1 insulation works. I intend to allocate a further €15 million very shortly for the completion of Phase 1 works and the commencement of Phase 2, which will include improvements to the fabric of dwellings.

Details of the 2014 allocations and funding drawn down to the end of June are set out in the following table :

Over the course of 2010 and 2011 there was an underspend of some €61 million, principally under the regeneration measure.