Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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220. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the status of the national taking in charge initiative; if the scheme has extended to 2017; and if so, when the funds will be allocated to local authorities. [25287/17]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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My Department launched the National Taking-in-Charge Initiative (NTICI) in an attempt to accelerate the taking-in-charge process of housing estates, including estates with developer-provided water services infrastructure such as private treatment plants.  The initiative was set up by my Department on a temporary basis in order to stimulate the taking-in-charge process, due to a build-up of pending cases.

Part of the National Taking-in-Charge Initiative included a €10m funding scheme. Under the terms of the NTICI, developments subject to valid taking in charge applications were eligible for inclusion in the call for funding proposals.  Of the funding allocated, €7.7 million was paid out to local authorities in respect of almost 330 developments, containing 13,400 units.

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. Therefore, there is no corresponding funding line available in 2017.

My Department will prepare a report in the coming months on key lessons learned from the valuable knowledge and experience gained under the NTICI which will help to inform future taking-in-charge plans.  Further information on the NTICI can be found on my Department’s website at the following link:

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