Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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312. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government how many properties have been put forward by his Department by local authorities under the Ukrainian Refurbishment Programme; how many have been approved and at what cost and to provide details of those rejected and a breakdown by local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4091/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Emergency Refurbishment (Ukraine) Programme comprises two delivery strands, one of which is focused on buildings in public ownership and the other which supports owners of private buildings to refurbish them to the appropriate standard as per guidelines from my Department. These guidelines are available on my Department's website at this . Private owners can upload their properties for consideration in the programme through the gov.ie website, linked forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=1kz3hc5GbkiOn5I9PDFbr_Cz53O-RQRNm66T3C8QKQVUMjhOMEVRN1BVWFgxNDVKVUVSTEE2MzlBNy4u.

Noting that many of these buildings are privately owned, it would be inappropriate to publish the details of individual buildings. Final decisions on whether properties are suitable for progression are made by a Technical Working Group (TWG) working under the auspices of the Accommodation Working Group. Membership of the TWG includes my Department, DCEDIY, the Department of the Taoiseach, the Local Government Management Agency and the City and County Management Association.

Other than contributing to staff resources in local authorities to support the programme and wider humanitarian response, my Department does not provide funding for privately owned buildings that are being refurbished to accommodate beneficiaries of temporary protection. In 2023, €3.7m was spent on the refurbishment programme.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants of local authority houses that are available for sale under the scheme. The scheme is underpinned by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 and the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015. The 2015 regulations were amended by the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which came into effect on 29 January 2024.

These amendments include a reduction in the minimum reckonable income required in order to qualify to purchase a house under the Scheme, to €11,000 per annum. In addition in the case of joint applications, only one tenant must now be in receipt of social housing supports for at least 10 years to qualify for the scheme.

The Ministerial Directions on Reckonable Income were also amended, and from that date the Widow's, Widower's, Surviving Civil Partner's Pension (Contributory and Non-Contributory), Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension, and Disability Allowance, are considered to be primary reckonable income for the purposes of determining eligibility for the Scheme. Furthermore, the Working Family Payment, Age 80 (Pension) increase, and the Rural Social Scheme will now be considered as secondary sources of income.

The regulations exclude specified classes of houses from sale, including those provided to local authorities under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The Part V provisions seek to promote social integration and secure mixed tenure, sustainable communities. Accordingly, Part V properties continue to be excluded from the scheme to ensure the original policy goals of the legislation are not eroded over time and the properties remain available for people most in need of social housing support.