Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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454. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to introduce an affordable housing scheme for persons within certain income bands who cannot afford to buy a home privately; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18824/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The delivery of more affordable homes, to buy or rent, is a major priority for Government, focusing in particular on the cities of Dublin, Galway and Cork, where people are facing the greatest affordability challenge. Recognising that people want a choice of affordable purchase and rental, depending on their stage of life and circumstances, we are progressing both.

On 22 January, I announced a package of initiatives to help alleviate affordability pressures faced by households, particularly in those areas of high housing demand and high accommodation costs. The measures announced include the establishment of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, the re-introduction of an affordable purchase scheme, and the introduction of cost rental projects. Further details on the suite of initiatives announced on 22 January can be found at

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The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is designed to enable credit-worthy first-time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties in a suitable price range. The scheme is targeted at first-time buyers who have access to an adequate deposit and have the capacity to repay a mortgage, but who are unable to access a mortgage sufficient for them to purchase their first home. In order to be eligible for the scheme, single applicants must not be earning more than €50,000 per annum and the combined income of joint applicants must not be greater than €75,000 per annum.

In terms of affordable purchase, the new Scheme will be based on the relevant provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which will be commenced shortly, and enabling regulations which are in preparation. The income thresholds will be the same as for the home loan and other criteria will be set out in the regulations. The elected members of each local authority will be responsible for determining the order of priority to be accorded to eligible households, in line with the framework of the national scheme.

Dublin City Council already has two sites, at O'Devaney Gardens and Oscar Traynor Road, being procured on the basis of a 30% social, 20% affordable purchase and 50% private market housing mix. Dublin City Council is progressing the procurement of these sites as a top priority. In total, the two sites will deliver over 1,200 new build homes.

In addition, the Government is determined to make cost rental a major part of the Irish housing system, similar to the role it plays in many European countries. Under this approach, rents are set at levels to recover the construction costs and to facilitate the management and administration of developments, but with only a minimal profit margin included. A pilot project is currently being progressed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, at Enniskerry Road, Dundrum, in conjunction with the Housing Agency and Approved Housing Bodies (AHB), using land owned by the Agency. This pilot is providing very valuable learning to inform the wider roll-out. We are now working with the EIB and other stakeholders with a view to announcing the first major cost rental project in Dublin shortly, with a cost rental programme across Dublin and other cities to follow.

Importantly, the new measures announced in January of this year are specifically targeted at delivering more affordable homes from our State land bank in urban areas where affordability issues are greatest, and have the potential to deliver more than 3,000 new affordable homes to buy or rent initially, with a target delivery of at least 10,000 new affordable homes across all initiatives in the longer term.

Recognising that there may be enabling infrastructure requirements on some sites, I am also providing Exchequer funding of €25 million, over 2018 and 2019, as a key contribution towards the delivery of more affordable housing. Applications for this funding will be invited shortly.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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455. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the efforts in place by his Department to allocate housing to the 76 housing applicants in Ballyshannon, County Donegal who are on the housing list in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18847/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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As Minister, I am primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy and for the preparation of legislation in relation to housing nationally. The day-to-day operation of the social housing system is a matter for the relevant local authority. The allocation of social housing support is a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated regulations. Section 22 of the Act requires all housing authorities, as a reserved function, to make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of dwellings to households qualified for social housing support and to households approved for a transfer, the allocation of which would, in the opinion of the authority, meet the accommodation needs and requirements of the households.

Under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009, I, as Minister, have no function in relation to the assessment of individual housing applications and the allocation of accommodation to eligible households, which are matters solely for housing authorities. Section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 specifically provides that the Minister’s power to issue policy directions and guidelines to housing authorities in relation to their housing functions shall not be construed as enabling him or her to exercise any power or control in relation to any individual case with which a housing authority is or may be concerned. More particularly, section 22(17) of the 2009 Act provides that the Minister’s statutory power to issue directions to a housing authority regarding the operation of its allocation scheme shall not be construed as enabling him or her to direct the allocation of a dwelling to a specific household.

In terms of meeting the need of households on waiting lists across the country, there are a range of social housing supports which qualified households may avail of in order to meet their housing needs. In addition to traditional social housing built and provided directly by local authorities, support is also provided via the private rental sector through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and through the voluntary sector via approved housing bodies.

Rebuilding Ireland set ambitious targets for social housing delivery. I have made it clear to local authorities that the delivery of social housing supports must be focussed on and consistent with their assessments of housing need, a process which now takes place on an annual basis.

Last year, an additional €500 million was secured during Budget 2018 negotiations, to increase the social housing delivery ambition from 47,000 to 50,000 social housing homes by end 2021. Combined with the target to deliver 88,000 tenancies under the HAP and RAS, this means that our total investment of €6 billion will meet the needs of over 138,000 individuals and families over the lifetime of the Rebuilding Ireland plan.

The implementation of Rebuilding Ireland is well underway and significant progress is being made with just under 45,000 households having had their social housing need met by the end of year 2 of the Plan, some 33% of those targeted. Details of output by local authority and by scheme are available on the statistics page of my Department's website at the following link: