Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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324. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount of local authority-owned potential building lands available for local authority affordable housing in the greater Dublin area, with particular reference to those counties adjacent to Dublin; if particular reasons have emerged that may inhibit progress of a major house building campaign to meet the demands of the local authority waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52164/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The development of major local authority residential sites in Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), where undersupply and the greatest affordability issues are being experienced, is a major priority for the Government.

In the first instance, it is a matter for each local authority and its elected members to agree the optimal approach to development and financing of its land bank, including the viability of sites for development. Notwithstanding this, my Department has been working closely with all local authorities, including local authorities in the GDA, to ensure that new social and affordable homes can be delivered from the public land bank, with particular emphasis on prioritising those sites with the greatest potential to deliver housing at scale, in the short to medium term.

In terms of the strategic development of the State’s residential land bank, all local authority sites have been mapped on the Rebuilding Ireland land map. The map includes details of over 700 local authority and Housing Agency owned sites amounting to some 1,700 hectares including the land owned by local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area and is available at the following link: .

All local authorities are being funded to significantly increase their delivery of social housing, as part of the Rebuilding Ireland programme, and a strong social housing construction pipeline is already in place for local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies. A detailed breakdown of the social housing construction programme for all local authorities is set out in the Social Housing Construction Status Report, which is published on a quarterly basis. The report covering the period up to end Quarter 2 of 2019 is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link: . Further projects will continue to be added to the programme on an ongoing basis.

In terms of affordable housing, a targeted approach is being pursued to support local authorities. Significant housing delivery is to be achieved through the Serviced Site Fund (SSF), where €310 million has been allocated to support the delivery of at least 6,200 affordable homes over the next three years. Following two calls to date for bids under the SSF, I have allocated funding of €127 million, in support of 35 projects in 14 local authority areas, for infrastructure works that will see the delivery of more than 3,200 affordable homes. Of this €127m, over half has been awarded to projects in the Greater Dublin Area which will in turn provide for a potential 2,213 new affordable homes to follow. Many of these sites will include a tenure mix and accommodate further social and private homes. My Department will continue to engage proactively with the local authorities to accelerate the delivery of these projects. A further SSF call for proposals will issue in 2020.

Table: List of projects in the GDA that have received approval in principle under SSF first and second call for proposals.