Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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300. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider, as part of the housing action plan, providing local authorities with five- or six-year funding programmed for social housing rather than the three-year funding cycle that is currently in place. [20530/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Drawing on the Report of the Special Committee on Housing and Homelessness, which was published on 17 June 2016, the “Action Plan for Housing” is currently being drafted in my Department, with input from key Government Departments and Agencies, and other stakeholders working in the housing and homelessness sector. I have made the development and implementation of this “Action Plan for Housing” my number one priority. I am accelerating plans for Government approval and aim to publish the final Action Plan in the coming weeks.

The Plan will include actions to expedite and boost supply of all types of housing, including social housing, in the immediate, medium and longer-terms, focusing in particular on those feeling most difficulty in accessing the housing and rental market at the moment. The Plan will balance delivery on these fronts with the necessary financial, fiscal and structural reforms.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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302. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to consider reinstating the 90:10 ratio for funding for local government homeless services as in many local authorities the funding ration has slipped to 70:30. [20533/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In accordance with section 10 of the Housing Act 1988, my Department does not fund homeless services directly but provides funding to housing authorities towards the costs of homeless accommodation and services. The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1993 provide that the recoupment to housing authorities by my Department under section 10 arrangements shall not exceed 90% of such payments made. Therefore, this is a recoupment upward limit and, furthermore, housing authorities may also incur additional expenditure on homeless services outside of the ‘section 10 ’ funding arrangements.