Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1259. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when the various local authorities were requested to make the necessary arrangements to provide for an accelerated housing programme; the degree to which action has been taking place as a result; if he has satisfied himself that the response to date is sufficient to meet the requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33657/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1262. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the local authorities in the greater Dublin area that are responding most positively to the need for an urgent response to the housing shortage in terms of local authority and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33660/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1259 and 1262 together.

There is continuing, regular contact between myself as Minister and my Department with the local authorities, including those in the Greater Dublin Area, covering all aspects of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, which is focused on increasing supply across all tenures.  Direct contact between my Department and the local authorities focuses, in particular, on their housing delivery programmes, with quarterly meetings that address technical issues on projects and work to advance them to site as soon possible.

Local authorities generally are making clear progress in increasing and accelerating housing supply. This can be seen, for example, in the social housing construction programme, details of which are now published quarterly, with the latest report, as at end Quarter 1 2017, available at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/social-housing-construction-projects-report-2017/. Within the details of the over 600 social housing projects, involving the construction of over 10,000 new social homes, are details of the projects that the local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area are advancing. These include projects that are in design, planning or being tendered, those on site and some that are recently completed.

Acquisitions of new and second hand houses and apartments for those on the waiting lists is also part of the early response to the housing challenge and almost 2,000 such acquisitions were made nationally in 2016. More are being undertaken this year and the Greater Dublin Area is prominent in this activity.  Further information in this regard is available at the following link: .

Local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area are also utilising long-term leasing opportunities with private owners. In 2016, there were 1,832 new social homes provided in this way by the four Dublin local authorities, 177 in Kildare, 154 in Meath and 36 in Wicklow.

The rapid delivery programme is now progressing well and my Department is working with a broad range of local authorities, in the Greater Dublin Area and beyond, on using this approach where suitable.  There are currently over 500 rapid delivery homes advancing through the planning design, procurement and construction stages, and work is underway to ensure that a further 500 units are advanced in the coming months, bringing the number of units in the programme to 1,000 by year end.  An additional 500 units are targeted for delivery in 2018.  The establishment of a framework of rapid delivery contractors by the Office of Government Procurement means that local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area and beyond can take advantage of this approach, allowing them to run quicker procurement competitions and advance rapid delivery projects to site more efficiently. 

The publication in April 2017 of the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map will promote residential development on State lands as part of a new strategic approach to State land management. Opening up the supply of State land in this way, for social and mixed-tenure housing, is a critically important policy in addressing a situation where the pace of recovery in the housing development sector is slower than it needs to be to meet demand. In practical terms, the development of these sites will mean accelerating social housing delivery and securing more homes for sale and rent at more affordable price points.  Two of the Dublin local authorities have already brought forward four key, large-scale sites, capable of delivering 3,000 new homes, and I expect other local authorities to follow suit.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1260. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which serviced or serviceable lands, zoned or unzoned, have been identified by each of the local authorities in the greater Dublin area to facilitate a rapid build housing programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33658/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department is working closely with all local authorities in relation to increasing and accelerating the delivery of a range of social housing programmes and supports, including rapid build homes.  There are currently over 500 rapid build units in various stages of delivery, including construction, and work is underway at advancing a further 500 units by the end of 2017, with another 500 units to be delivered in 2018.

There has been significant pressure to ramp-up rapid build delivery, which local authorities have been responding to positively.  Of particular note has been the establishment of a framework of rapid build contractors by the Office of Government Procurement, which means that local authorities across the country can now run quicker procurement competitions and advance rapid build projects to site more efficiently and effectively.

The identification of lands which are serviced, serviceable, zoned or unzoned, is a matter for the local authority concerned who are best placed to understand the housing needs in their areas. However, a recent initiative which is of benefit to both local authorities and the general public is the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map, which was published on 27 April 2017. The Map is a vital initial step in the new strategic approach to State land management and the datasets published on the map include details of over 700 local authority and Housing Agency-owned sites, totalling some 1,700 hectares, as well as 30 sites (covering about 200 hectares) owned by State or semi-State bodies. The map is available to view on the Rebuilding Ireland website at: .

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1261. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which he entered into dialogue with the local authorities with a view to ensuring the immediate implementation of a local authority housing programme sufficient to address the problem of homelessness in addition to reducing the existing local authority housing waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33659/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I refer to the  reply to Questions Nos. 24 and 52 on today's Order Paper which sets out the position on this matter.