Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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482. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce legislation to allow tenants of approved housing bodies to buy their homes as per a scheme similar to the one that is available to local authority tenants. [41658/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the terms of the various funding schemes supporting the delivery of social housing by approved housing bodies (AHBs), AHBs are the de factoowners of the properties concerned and are required to make them available for social renting for the duration of the mortgage or, as the case may be, the availability agreement. My Department cannot unilaterally make provision for their sale to tenants. Any such decision would have to involve the AHB and have regard to the mortgage on the property. On expiry of the mortgage period and subject to compliance with the terms of the funding agreement, the AHB becomes the owner of the property.

Section 45 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 does provide for the sale by housing authorities and AHBs of designated new houses to eligible households, subject to specified terms and conditions. However, any such sales would have to be progressed by the AHBs. There are currently no proposals or plans for a tenant purchase scheme in relation to AHB houses.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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483. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the way in which the Government allocation of €18 million for the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens will be spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41662/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I was very pleased to have been in a position to announce Stage 1 funding approval of €17,859,976 for Dublin City Council to progress the delivery of 56 Social Housing dwellings at the former O'Devaney Gardens. These dwellings benefit from an existing approval under the Planning Acts for 110 social and affordable units on a portion of the site.

This is the first phase of a mixed tenure re-development of the entire site to deliver approximately 600 dwellings in total with a mix of 30% social, 20% affordable and 50% private housing.

I understand that Dublin City Council intend that the remainder of the lands will be developed jointly with a private developer under a development agreement, to deliver a total of approximately  300 private, 120 affordable and the remaining 124 social dwellings to achieve the 600 dwellings at the agreed tenure ratio for the site.