Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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207. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for the upgrade to insulation of social housing stock; if he has prepared a targeted plan for the retrofit of the worst affected housing; if he will provide a table of intended retrofit projects by town and by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3185/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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208. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the obligations on local authorities to ensure that the building energy rating is improved in social housing stock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3186/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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209. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the obligations that lie with local authorities in relation to repairs for housing stock, targets and standards for resolving issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3187/15]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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210. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if damp that is occurring in social housing stock is an issue that should be dealt with by the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3188/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 207 to 210, inclusive, together.

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, including addressing damp, 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.

Local authorities are undertaking an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting, with the support of my Department, on the least energy efficient social houses over a 3 year period. Funding of €50 million is being provided over the period 2013-2015 for improving the energy performance of older local authority housing stock. This programme will improve energy efficiency and comfort levels, and therefore BER ratings, in 25,000 local authority homes.

Phase 1 commenced in June 2013 and is focused on providing attic/roof insulation and cavity wall insulation in all relevant properties. Once a local authority confirms that all houses requiring attic/roof and cavity wall insulation have been dealt with, my Department will allocate funding for Phase 2 works which will include external insulation or dry lining of houses with solid wall or hollow block construction. The details of the 2015 programme are currently being finalised with local authorities. The identification of individual social housing units on which improvement works are carried out is a matter for individual local authorities.