Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

86. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to accelerate the opening up of vacant council properties to address the acute homelessness problem in cities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46927/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Local authorities are actively encouraged to ensure that all vacant properties are brought back into active use as expeditiously as possible. While my Department provides exchequer funding to local authorities to support eligible capital improvements to local authority housing, including through the voids and energy efficiency programmes, section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 provides that the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for each individual local authority in the first instance.

Under my Department's voids programme, funding is provided to support local authorities in remediating those social housing homes that may require a greater level of investment than the normal level of pre-letting repairs that local authorities would ordinarily carry out, as part of their on-going repair and maintenance of local authority housing. During 2017, my Department provided funding of almost €24.7 million to local authorities to enable them to bring 1,757 properties back to productive use under the programme. To date this year, approval has been given to local authorities to progress 1,853 properties under the voids programme. It is a matter for each local authority to actively manage their housing stock and to progress the quick turnaround and allocation of vacant properties.

The Government's commitment to addressing homelessness is evident in the range of actions that have been initiated under Rebuilding Ireland. Budget 2019 reflects this commitment by allocating €60 million extra in capital funding for additional emergency accommodation this year, an additional €30 million for homelessness services in 2019, bringing the total to €146 million next year, and €1.25 billion for the delivery of new social homes generally in 2019.