Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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640. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to fund Traveller specific accommodation in the years 2015 to 2020 respectively; and if he will provide details of the allocation of this funding. [26347/15]

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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641. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the average cost of the delivery of a unit of Traveller specific housing. [26348/15]

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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642. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to ensure the draw-down by local authorities of funding for Traveller accommodation; and the steps he will take to discourage failure to use this funding, as has happened in previous years. [26349/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 640 to 642, inclusive, together.

In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes in their areas. My Department’s role is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist the authorities in providing such accommodation, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding.

In 2014, local authorities adopted the fourth round of Traveller Accommodation Programmes in 2014, with the five-year rolling accommodation programmes running from 2014 to 2018. These programmes provide a road map for local authority investment priorities over the period. They also form the basis for the allocation of funding from my Department for traveller accommodation, on foot of proposals received from local authorities and subject to approval from my Department.

2015 capital allocations in respect of traveller specific accommodation have issued to local authorities. The bulk of the funding was allocated in respect of schemes already under construction, new schemes approved to commence construction in 2015 and to meet final balances on completed schemes. The balance of funding is towards projects that will be newly approved during 2015. Details of the 2015 allocations are available on my Department's website at the following link:. As funding is subject to the Annual Estimates process, there are no forward annual allocations.

The implementation of the traveller accommodation programme of each local authority, including the drawdown of funds is, in accordance with the above-mentioned Act, a matter for the authorities themselves. Local authorities are requested to submit quarterly profiles of expenditure to my Department and these are closely monitored against actual expenditure. If, during the year, a difficulty is identified in drawing down the funding allocated for a particular scheme, it will then be allocated to another scheme.

As regards the average cost of a unit of traveller specific accommodation, unit costs vary significantly due to the nature of traveller specific accommodation, as well as the differing needs of families. In the case of permanent halting sites, costs can vary due to the difference in site costs and other additional works required as part of the development of the site, including accommodating the families off-site during the construction phase. In the case of a house in a group scheme, it is difficult to determine an average cost as the size of the unit provided can vary across and within schemes. Also, other factors can impact on costs, such as difficulty in obtaining suitable sites close to services and amenities. All of these variables have a bearing on unit costs and proposals are assessed by my Department on a case-by-case basis.