Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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677. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason that the self-help grant scheme has been discontinued by Kildare County Council for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20775/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Self Help Grant Scheme was an initiative introduced by Kildare County Council to assist local authority tenants to carry out minor improvement works on their home. My Department did not have any role in the design, funding or oversight of this grant scheme. Queries in relation to the scheme should be directed to Kildare County Council.

The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, responsive repairs and implementing planned maintenance programmes, is a matter for each individual local authority, under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966

Notwithstanding the legal obligation on local authorities to manage and maintain their own stock, my Department does provide annual funding support to local authorities for management and maintenance under a number of stock improvement programmes.

Under the Voids Programme, my Department has supported local authorities in refurbishing vacant social homes and returning them to productive use. This funding programme was introduced in 2014 and has to the end of 2021 returned 18,527 properties to use with funding of almost €261 million from my Department.

Under the Energy Efficiency Programme, my Department funds the carrying out of retrofitting works to local authority dwellings. Over the period 2013 to 2021 over 75,000 units of social housing stock have been retrofitted with a total exchequer spend of over €187 million under the scheme.

In 2022, the Energy Efficiency Retrofitting programme will see a significant increase in funding support to €85 million, allowing approximately 2,400 homes nationally to be upgraded to a B2 or cost optimal equivalent (BER).

The Department currently supports large-scale regeneration programmes in Limerick, Cork and Dublin and also on a smaller scale in Tralee, Sligo and Dundalk. A total of €50m has been made available nationally to support the 2022 regeneration programmes in addressing the causes of disadvantage in these communities through a holistic programme of physical, social and economic regeneration.

In addition, work is also ongoing with the local authority sector, through the City and County Management Association to transition from a largely response and voids based approach to housing stock management and maintenance to a planned maintenance approach as referenced in Housing for All, policy objective 20.6. This will require the implementation of a centrally hosted ICT system within the LGMA to support the completion of stock condition surveys by all local authorities and the subsequent development of strategic and informed work programmes which will be supported by my Department’s stock improvement funding programmes. It is envisaged surveys will commence in 2022.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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678. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of recipients of the local authority home loan scheme for each county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20800/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Local Authority Home Loan has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022. Prior to that, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan was the mortgage available from local authorities. As of 4 January 2022, no new Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan applications have been accepted, although applications/approvals already in process are being honoured.

As applications for the Local Authority Home Loan only opened at the beginning of 2022, drawdown statistics are not yet available. However, such statistics are avilable for the previous Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme.

My Department regularly publishes information on the number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Local authority approval means that an official letter of offer has been sent to a borrower (and therefore relates to a specific property and loan amount). 

Local Authority drawdowns from 2018 to Q4 2021 are available at the following link under the folder name 'Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan 2018 to date', which will be updated, as updated figures are available: www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/#local-authority-loans-approvedpaid