Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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97. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when he will provide funding to local authorities on the phase 2 house insulation programme. [14595/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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98. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to provide additional resources for housing maintenance for Dublin City Council in view of the need to upgrade and properly insulate the large older social housing estates located in the council's areas. [14596/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 98 together.

The regular management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, is a matter for each relevant local authority, and it is open to each authority to address maintenance or improvements to their housing stock from within their own resources.

However, my Department is committed to supporting local authorities in maintaining and improving the quality of the national social housing stock through a range of measures including large-scale urban regeneration programmes, improving the standard and energy efficiency of dwellings, pre-letting repairs and improvement and refurbishment works to vacant properties in order to return these to productive use as quickly as possible.

With regard to the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme for social housing stock, my Department has provided very significant financial support to local authorities who are currently undertaking an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting on the least energy efficient social housing homes.  Funding of some €107 million was provided from 2013 to 2016 to improve energy efficiency and comfort levels in over 57,000 local authority homes, benefitting those at risk of fuel poverty and making a significant contribution to Ireland’s carbon emissions reduction targets and energy reduction targets for 2020.

It will be a matter for each local authority, including Dublin City Council, to devise, prioritise and implement appropriate targeted Energy Efficiency Programme works that best fit the specific requirements in their areas.  My Department will shortly request submissions from each local authority in respect of their proposed works and related funding requirements for 2017.