Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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832. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of new accommodation units provided in 2024 through the Traveller accommodation programme funding, with a breakdown by local authority area; and to provide an average cost Statewide, broken down by local authority area. [2095/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 provides that the role of my Department is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist local authorities in providing such accommodation, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding.

The Act provides that housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) in their areas.

Traveller-specific accommodation is focused primarily on the provision of group housing schemes and halting sites including the acquisition of properties and the provision of mobiles and caravans in certain circumstances. The timeline for the initiation, design, planning approval, tendering and contract management of Traveller-specific accommodation can take several years with the exception of the acquisition of properties and the provision of mobiles and caravans. Therefore, payments made from the Traveller-specific accommodation budget over the last year in respect of construction projects would not give a reliable indication of average costs, as they may not include all payments from initiation to completion in respect of a sufficient quantity of projects to provide a reliable average cost.

The information requested on the number of new accommodation units provided in 2024 and the average costs relating to acquisitions and mobiles/caravans is currently being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as available.