Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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251. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the details of plans for public private partnerships in housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35917/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Social Housing Strategy 2020provided for an investment with a capital value of €300 million in social housing through the public private partnership or PPP model. In total, the programme is expected to deliver 1,500 social housing units.

The delivery of social housing through PPP is part of the plan to accelerate the supply of social housing, which is the second pillar of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing & Homelessness, launched in July 2016.

To enable delivery to commence as quickly as possible, the PPP programme is being rolled-out in three bundles. The first bundle, comprising six PPP sites which are to provide over 500 units in the greater Dublin area, was announced in October 2015. Two of the sites are located in Dublin City with one each in South Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Louth. The second bundle, comprising eight PPP sites which are to provide over 450 units across the country, was announced in June 2016. Three of the sites are located in County Cork, with one each in the cities of Galway and Waterford. There is a further one site in each of counties Clare, Kildare and Roscommon. The social housing is being developed at all of these sites in co-operation with the local authorities in each area.

Dublin City Council has been appointed to act as the lead local authority for the delivery of the social housing PPP Programme in respect of this first project bundle, with Cork County Council appointed to act as the lead local authority in respect of the second project bundle. The identification and selection of sites for the third project bundle is currently underway and is expected to be finalised in early 2017.

The National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) is acting as the procuring authority on behalf of my Department and the relevant local authorities.