Written answers

Wednesday, 20 September 2017

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Local Authority Housing Funding

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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806. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding allocated to date in 2017 to Cavan County Council for the housing capital programme; the additional funding that will be made available before the end of 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39909/17]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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807. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding allocated to date in 2017 to Monaghan County Council for the housing capital programme; the additional funding that will be made available before the end of 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39910/17]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 806 and 807 together.

Rebuilding Ireland has put in place both the targets and the funding resources to accelerate the delivery of social housing for all local authorities, including Cavan and Monaghan County Councils. There are currently over 600 social housing construction projects included in the Status Report on Social Housing Construction Projects, which is now published on a quarterly basis and includes projects that are recently completed, on site, or undergoing planning and design. This list is being added to on an ongoing basis and the most recent report, covering the period to end Quarter 1 of 2017, is available at the following link:

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The report covering the period to the end of quarter 2 of 2017 will be published shortly.

The Status Report includes 16 construction projects of various scale in Counties Cavan and Monaghan, involving 226 new social homes, one of which was completed in Quarter 4 of 2016 and four others that are currently on site. Funding is provided to local authorities in line with their advancement of projects through construction. Accordingly, the level of funding that will be provided in 2017 to Cavan and Monaghan County Councils for their social housing delivery activity will be directly linked to the scale of delivery they achieve on these projects.

So far this year my Department has provided funding amounting to almost €3.8 million to both local authorities to advance their social housing construction programme including delivery by approved housing bodies under both the Capital Assistance Scheme and the Capital Advance Leasing Facility. I am keen that both local authorities bring forward and advance projects as speedily as possible and they have been assured that funding is in place to support their activity in this regard.

In tandem with the construction programme, all local authorities have been undertaking the targeted acquisition of properties and since January 2017, my Department has provided over €1.7 million to Cavan County Council and over €2.6 million to Monaghan County Council for this purpose, through which the two local authorities have secured 15 and 11 new properties for social housing use, respectively. 

My Department also provides funding to local authorities for a range of social housing stock improvement initiatives, such as the energy efficiency retrofitting programme, adaptations to houses for people with a disability and the elderly, and returning vacant properties to productive use. Allocations for 2017 in respect of these programmes are as follows:

2017Voids allocationEnergy efficiencyDPG/IWIL (Combined local and national funding)
Cavan€221,950€293,080€353,709
Monaghan€182,000€2,600*€175,854

*This allocation is based on a return received from the LA outlining works proposed for the year and associated costs.

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