Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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969. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm whether local authorities generally hold Part 5 money in separate accounts from their other business dealings; if he will provide details, per local authority, of the amount held in each of those accounts; the proposals for the expenditure of these funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20569/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Section 96(12) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, requires that any amount paid to a planning authority in accordance with relevant provisions of Part V of that Act shall be accounted for in a separate account and shall only be applied as capital for its functions under Part V or by a housing authority for its functions in relation to the provision of housing under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2014.

An unofficial consolidation of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2014 is available at:

.

The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. The most up-to-date balances, broken down by local authority, will reflect the position as at 31 December 2013.

Each authority develops a separate plan for the expenditure of its Part V funds depending on its needs. Part V monies are used for a range of works which, generally, include:

- returning vacant housing stock to productive use;

- estate wide works, included as part of an estate-wide improvement works project;

- once-off works to local authority dwellings, including improvements to individual local authority dwellings under the following schemes:

- responsive repairs;

- radon remediation;

- extensions/adaptations to meet the needs of persons with a disability;

- Improvement Works in Lieu of Local Authority Dwellings (IWILS);

- extensions to local authority dwellings; and

- meeting the interest on Housing Finance Agency loans for social housing or improvement works in support of other housing programmes, e.g. suite of Grants for Older People and People with Disability, emergency accommodation and traveller accommodation.