Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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167. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if an application has been received from Louth County Council regarding the proposed Drogheda Northern Cross route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35673/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The aim of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund is to relieve critical infrastructural blockages to enable the accelerated delivery of housing on key development sites and to improve the economic viability of new housing projects in Dublin and in urban areas of high demand for housing. The €200m Fund will be composed of an Exchequer allocation of €150 million, matched by a €50 million contribution from participating local authorities.

A call for proposals under the fund was issued to local authorities on 26 August 2016, with a closing date for receipt of proposals of 14 October. It was open to all local authorities to apply, with funding to be allocated on the basis of a competitive bid process. 21 local authorities have submitted a total of 74 project applications relating to specific sites or development land areas. Louth County Council submitted a proposal in relation to Northern Environs, Drogheda which includes the Port Access Northern Cross Route.

The overall total cost of the 74 funding bid applications is approximately €800m, with funding of some €600m being sought from the Exchequer and local authorities agreeing to fund approximately €200m as part of their matching fund requirements. It will not be possible to approve all applications, given the scale and value of applications received.

The viability of the applications is currently being examined in detail against the assessment criteria set out in the Call for Proposals, with a focus on the level of funding required and what it might leverage, the number of housing units that could be delivered, their strategic location and speed of delivery, and affordability levels of a proportion of the homes.

In light of the different financial assessments required for the different scales of proposals under the Public Spending Code, there will be two phases of announcements. I intend to make initial announcements for successful smaller-scale projects in mid-December and a second phase announcement by end March 2017 for those project bids requiring more detailed financial appraisals.