Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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525. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which his Department can offer further latitude for immediate expenditure by the various local authorities on measures to address the housing crisis by way of direct build; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40742/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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A funding investment of €5.35 billion is being provided over the period 2016-2021 to support the implementation of Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness - Rebuilding Ireland. This comprises some €4.5 billion in capital funding and a further €844 million in support of programmes funded from current expenditure.  In addition, €200 million is being provided under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund towards the capital costs of public infrastructure which, when provided, will secure the early delivery of additional housing at a considerable scale. 

Rebuilding Ireland aims to deliver 47,000 social housing units over the period 2016 to 2021. Almost €1.7 billion was expended on the implementation of a range of housing programmes over the period 2015-2016, with €0.935 billion being expended in 2016 alone - this facilitated the delivery of some 13,400 social housing units in 2015 and over 19,000 units in 2016.

In Budget 2017, an increased investment of €1.3 billion was provided for housing, which is supporting the delivery of over 21,000 social housing solutions this year. This level of national funding provision to implement Rebuilding Ireland's targets means that funding is available to be drawn down as it is required by local authorities. Indeed the evidence this year is of a much accelerated level of funding draw down by the local authorities, reflecting an acceleration in the scale and rate of construction and in other means of housing delivery.  Capital funding to date in 2017 from my Department in respect of housing programmes amounts to €432.66m, compared with the same point last year when the capital spend level was €130.25m.

My Department now publishes, on a quarterly basis, a comprehensive status report of all social housing construction schemes for all local authority areas showing details such as their locations, a range of information relating to their advancement, including those delivered and those progressing through planning, design and construction. The most recent of these reports covers the period up to the end of Quarter 1 of 2017 and lists circa 600 approved social housing construction schemes, delivering over 10,000 units. The report can be accessed at the following link:. Details in respect of Quarter 2 of 2017 will be published shortly.

These projects are funded under a range of different initiatives such as local authority construction, turnkey developments, rapid delivery, regeneration programmes and construction and turnkey developments by approved housing bodies.  The precise timing for the advancement of each of these projects, including completion dates and tenanting, is a matter for the relevant local authorities and approved housing body concerned, in the first instance.

Further project approvals are being added to the construction programme as they are developed by local authorities and approved housing bodies. I am keen that all local authorities advance their social housing projects as speedily as possible and I have assured them that funding is in place to support their activity in this regard.  Indeed, I announced recently that the available funding for social housing is to be reorientated further towards direct build projects.  In 2018 alone, this will see the target of 3,000 newly build social housing units increase by almost 30% to 3,800 and this reorientation will continue over the life of Rebuilding Ireland to end 2021.