Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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214. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress on a national taking in charge initiative as set as a key objective in Pillar 5 of the housing policy document, Rebuilding Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9119/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Taking-in-Charge Initiative (NTICI) for residential estates, with funding of €9 million, was launched in April 2016 to explore enhanced systems and procedures and new methods of working to accelerate the taking-in-charge process of housing estates. Of the funding allocated, €7.7 million was paid out to local authorities and almost 330 developments containing 13,400 units have either been taken in charge or works have taken place and the development will now proceed to be taken in charge by the relevant local authority at an early date.

Under the terms of the NTICI, only those developments subject to valid taking-in-charge applications were eligible for inclusion in the call for proposals. It is important to note that the NTICI was not intended to establish a rolling annual funding programme to take in charge all estates not yet taken in charge, but was instead intended to develop better knowledge and systems to support the taking-in-charge of further estates over time. I intend that the experience and learning from the operation of the NTICI over the course of 2016 will be used to point the way forward in relation to supporting the taking- in-charge process into the future and my Department intends to publish a report on the Initiative’s findings and recommendations by this Summer.

Further information on the NTICI can be found on my Department’s website at the following link:

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