Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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406. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government what plans the Housing Agency has under its property sourcing and acquisitions programme for County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6465/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Agency administers the Housing Agency Acquisitions Fund (HAAF), which has moved to a dual role to support both the ‘Housing First’ Programme and the new, pilot ‘Cost Rental Tenant in-Situ’ Scheme (CRTiS).

The 'Housing First' Programme offers permanent housing to homeless people and then provides other supportive services to improve their quality of life.

CRTiS is a new scheme that is available where a tenant household which is at risk of homelessness faces the termination of its tenancy due to the landlord’s intention to sell the property.

As at the end of 2023, the Housing Agency had acquired 11 dwellings in County Donegal using the HAAF.

I am satisfied that the Housing Agency will continue to seek to avail of opportunities to acquire appropriate dwellings throughout the country, including in County Donegal, for the 'Housing First' Programme and CRTiS.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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407. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of projects the Housing Agency is assisting the local authority and/or approved housing bodies in County Donegal with project feasibility and development of housing under headings (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6466/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Agency is a non-commercial State agency under the aegis of my Department. The Housing Agency’s Projects, Procurement and Programmes (PPP) Team supports local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in housing delivery through the provision of specialist advice in a range of areas, including design, regulatory compliance, project development and procurement. My Department does not hold details on the number of housing projects for which each local authority or AHB availed of support services or the details of these supports from the Housing Agency. However, further information may be available directly from the Housing Agency. The contact email address for the Housing Agency in this regard is: publicreps@housingagency.ie

One of the key objectives of the Projects, Procurement and Programmes Team in the Housing Agency is to support LA and AHB construction projects. These supports include advising on all stages of construction projects, from feasibility stage through to design, tender, building and handover, with a particular focus on procurement and project management. To support this objective, the Projects and Procurement Team in the Housing Agency has been allocated additional resources, with one of the key strategic objectives being to support AHB construction projects, including Capital Advance Leasing Projects (CALF) and Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) projects.

A CALF application submitted to my Department consists of a completed application form and a financial model showing the capital cost, income and operational costs projected over the P&A term sought, and other relevant supporting documentation. The Housing Agency undertakes an independent assessment of the financial aspects of the application. This assessment involves analysing the capital costs, projected income and projected expenditure against a standard set of assumptions agreed with the Department.

My Department publishes the Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) which includes details of local authority and Approved Housing Body social housing projects. The CSR provides details of funding approved social housing developments and their location that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 3 2023. All Construction Status Reports are available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/

A version of the CSR can also be downloaded for analysis at local authority level is available at this link: data.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q3-2023

The Housing First approach to addressing homelessness places direct access to housing first and foremost for vulnerable individuals. These include those using homeless services consistently or intermittently over long periods of time, and those unable or resistant to accessing homeless services and who may then become habitual rough sleepers. These individuals often have complex high support needs such as mental or physical health problems, addiction issues or dual diagnosis (the presence of mental ill health and a substance addiction).

Housing for All committed to the further expansion of Housing First. A new National Implementation Plan, which provides for a further 1,319 tenancies covering the period 2022-2026, was published in December 2021. The Housing First National Office is based at The Housing Agency and will be responsible for coordinating and driving a national, cross-Government approach to Housing First, as set out in the ‘Housing First National Implementation Plan, 2022-2026’.

The acquisition fund of €35m, which was announced in Budget 2024, will be administered by the Housing Agency, and will support the continued expansion of the programme by supporting local authorities in acquiring one-bed properties. It is estimated the value of the new Housing First contract for the North West Region will be in the region of €2 million, including health resources. The new contract is expected in place in the region by the end of 2024.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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408. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current housing projects his Department is funding in County Donegal, disaggregated by location, number of units, estimated completion date and lead partner that is, LA or AHB; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6467/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority. This data is available to the end of Quarter 3 2023 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/6d316-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/?referrer=http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/social-housing/local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics

My Department also publishes the Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR). The CSR provides details of social housing developments and their location that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 3 2023. All Construction Status Reports are available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/

A version of the CSR file can also be downloaded for analysis of completions, locations, approvals stage etc. at this link:

data.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q3-2023

Data for Q4 2023 is currently being collated.

Under Housing for All, each local authority was required to prepare a Housing Delivery Action Plan. This Plan sets out details of both social and affordable housing delivery as appropriate over the period 2022-2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All. In preparing the Plans, local authorities were required to include details of land available to deliver housing and details of land acquisition requirements. The Plans also include details of the locations and delivery streams for social housing schemes.

The Plans have been published on local authority websites. A copy of the Housing Delivery Action Plan for Donegal is available on its website at the following link: www.donegalcoco.ie/services/housing/publications/donegalshousingdeliveryactionplan20222026/

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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409. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of persons on housing waiting lists, by local authority, as of month end January 2024. [6492/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority administrative area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The most recently published summary for all local authority areas was conducted in November 2022 and is available on my Department’s website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/collection/62486-summary-of-social-housing-assessments/

The SSHA 2023 is currently underway and I expect to publish the summary report before end Q1 2024.