Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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287. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56593/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides Unit Cost Ceilings (UCCs) to each local authority as a key benchmark for the development and costing of new build social housing.  As UCCs are based on previously tendered social housing construction projects, they act as useful guide costs for local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies against which to benchmark their projects. UCCs are representative of standard costs, typically encountered on all new build social housing schemes, developed directly by local authorities (or AHBs) on local authority (or AHB) lands, using Public Works forms of Contract. The UCC Construction Cost is reflective of the base build cost, inclusive of normal external / site development works and VAT.

The UCC ‘All-in Cost’ is reflective of a composite target to include the construction cost, with the addition of allowances for land acquisition costs, design team fees, utilities, site investigations, surveys, local authority in-house fees, public art etc., as appropriate. As such, the All-In costs allow for Assigned Certifier costs and performance bonds / insurances.

Items specific to private sector delivery, such as financing costs, developer margins / profits, contingency provisions (required by private funders) and Part V are not included in the UCCs.

With regard to inflation, it should be noted that under all Public Works Contracts, an element of inflation risk is carried by the Contractor (and therefore reflected in the tender price). The UCCs reflect anticipated tender price levels at a point in time (in the case of the most recently published UCCs, Q2 2022).