John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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638. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the review of Rebuilding Ireland has been completed; if so, if the findings of the review will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49321/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness was published in July 2016 and after one year of implementation, it was important to review overall progress and impact. The housing activity reports, available on , show that the strong supply-side measures introduced under Rebuilding Ireland are beginning to have a positive impact and all output indicators are showing positive upward trends, with:

- Planning permissions up 49%: 19,246 new homes were granted planning permission in the year to end June;

- Commencement Notices up by 49%: notices for 17,323 new homes nationwide were submitted in the year to end September; and,

- ESB connections to the National Grid up 26%, at 17,958 homes nationally in the year to end September, 8,177 of which are in the Greater Dublin Area.

The Review process itself has involved a comprehensive examination of key policies and programmes, taking account of stakeholder views and inputs. In this regard, a broad public consultation process was undertaken and 122 submissions were received. Arising from the Review, a number of themed announcements on specific policy areas have already been made.

The first set of measures, with a particular focus on homelessness, were presented following the Housing and Homelessness Summit with local authority Chief Executives which I hosted on 8 September 2017. Among the new and enhanced actions identified are to increase social housing build, with the target for 2018 of c. 3,000 newly built homes increasing by almost 30% to 3,800 new homes; the provision of additional emergency accommodation and family hubs to meet the short-term needs of homeless households; and the establishment of a new Homeless Inter-Agency Group. The full statement on additional measures for Homelessness can be accessed by clicking on the following web-link - .

In relation to the rental market, new and enhanced actions identified include the designation of further areas as Rent Pressure Zones; an enhanced regulatory role for the Residential Tenancies Board; an awareness campaign to ensure wider awareness by tenants of their rights, an important measure in terms of homelessness prevention; and additional legislative and other measures to strengthen the protections available to tenants and to address issues in relation to short-term lettings. A full statement on new and enhanced rental measures was made, coinciding with the release of the Residential Tenancies Board Q2 2017 Rental Index, on 19 September 2017 and can be accessed at the following web-link - .

Additional funding for housing and new tax measures relevant to housing were announced in Budget 2018. A full statement on the housing measures included in Budget 2018 can be accessed at the following web-link: .

I have signalled my intention to bring forward further proposals on areas such as housing affordability and the delivery of apartment developments, particularly build-to-rent projects. As work on these issues is finalised, further announcements will be made.

All new actions emanating from the review will be progressed under the governance and reporting structures in place in respect of Rebuilding Ireland.