Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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273. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department will approve the request for additional staff from Galway City Council housing unit, given the fact that council tenants in Galway are waiting months for maintenance works and retrofits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9649/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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A €5 million project management fund has been put in place to assist local authorities in the administration and management of the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP). This funding, available as part of the yearly allocations, was introduced to cover consultancy costs, tendering costs, training costs to upskill staff, such as becoming qualified BER assessors, for resourcing additional staff and other necessary administration costs. The fund was set up originally to fund the EERP but it is envisaged that it will support local authorities to resource their maintenance teams more generally.

The recruitment and filling of posts in the local authority sector is undertaken both by individual local authorities and the Public Appointments Service. Following the approval of a staffing sanction request by my Department where such is required it is then a matter for the Chief Executive, who is responsible under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001 for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible, to progress the appointment as appropriate.

Staff sanction requests are considered in light of Government priorities and other requirements when received and consideration is also given to the overall staffing levels of the local authority and its ability to meet the ongoing costs involved.

Galway City Council sought formal sanction from my Department for a number of additional staff for housing maintenance programmes on 13 February 2023. My Department has been in contact with the Council in this regard and will process the sanction requests received without delay.