Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1063. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the allocation for social and voluntary housing approved for Galway City Council and Galway County Council; the number of units approved; provided; the value of the approvals; the expenditure to date by his Department for housing in 2015, by local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37780/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Targets and provisional funding allocations for social housing delivery under my Department’s main capital and current programmes were issued to all local authorities in April this year. These targets were issued in the context of the Social Housing Strategy 2020, which provides a comprehensive response to the need for social housing and targets the provision of over 110,000 social housing units to 2020, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme. The targets are for the period out to 2017 and the available funding is being invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by the local authorities designed to accommodate 25% of those currently on the housing waiting lists. Galway City Council and Galway County Council have a combined target of 1,126 units, supported by €58.5m of investment, broken down as follows:

The detailed implementation of the programmes and projects to deliver on these targets is a matter for each individual local authority, but I am confident that good progress is being made in their achievement. When the targets were announced, it was indicated that the funding would support the refurbishment of vacant social housing units and support local authorities in both building and acquiring housing. Subsequently, I announced new social housing construction projects to the value of approximately half a billion euros, including 155 new units for the Galway local authorities at a cost estimate of €25 million. Details are available on my Department’s website at the following links:

Given the time-lag between approval and delivery in terms of construction projects, a successful programme to remediate vacant units, as well as the acquisition by local authorities of properties through turn-key developments and other purchases, are important parts of social housing delivery this year. The Galway authorities inform me they aim to deliver around 70 new acquisitions this year, while I am providing funding support to them to return 90 vacant social housing units to productive use.

Information on social housing units constructed and acquired in respect of all local authorities is published on my Department’s website at the following link:

The projects and programmes to deliver new social housing are being advanced strongly by local authorities. To date this year, investment in the broad range of initiatives under my Department’s social housing current and capital programmes by both Galway authorities is €8.6 million. I am confident that by utilising all delivery mechanisms under these programmes, local authorities will continue to deliver on the social housing targets for 2015, in line with the Social Housing Strategy.