Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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765. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider instructing county councils to make more use of modular homes to tackle the housing crisis; if he will make any required funds available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24195/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department, working closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and other relevant stakeholders, is progressing work to increase delivery capacity in the residential construction sector through promoting the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction or MMC. MMC is a collective term which describes innovative construction alternatives to traditional construction, which includes modular housing.

In 2023, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in collaboration with my Department, published the “Roadmap for the increased adoption of MMC in public housing delivery” which was a priority deliverable under Housing for All.

The Roadmap set out a series of initiatives and policy interventions needed to advance the use of compliant MMC in public housing delivery and remove barriers to adoption. The publication of the MMC Roadmap set in train a live agenda for MMC development in Ireland.

Under Housing for All a range of initiatives have already been put in place to support MMC. These include the Accelerated Delivery Programme to deliver over 1,500 MMC dwellings through Local Authorities led by my Department. In addition, building on this experience Wexford County Council are currently tendering a 3D Pilot Project of 22 social housing units utilising off-site three dimensional construction methods which are essentially what are referred to as modular units.

The recent Programme for Government contains a further range of initiatives to support MMC, including modular housing. These initiatives include an MMC Innovation Fund to directly fund new and existing factories, targets for MMC use in at least 25% of all State-backed housing, resourcing the National Standards Authority of Ireland to ensure regulatory certificates are issued in a timely manner and increasing training programmes in MMC.