Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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493. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will outline plans to increase the supply of affordable and social housing in the Saggart and Citywest areas, in light of ongoing population growth and housing demand. [36081/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. This is demonstrated by the record level of investment which is being provided for the delivery of Housing in 2025, with overall capital funding available of €6.8 billion. The capital provision is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address housing need.

A central element of Housing for All is to build institutional capacity. As part of the measures to support this, Housing for All commits to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to both programme manage and initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects and recognises that this requires the resourcing of the housing services of local authorities. An additional 9.25 post have been approved to support the delivery of social housing projects with another 9 posts approved to support affordable housing projects in your local authority area.

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has been identified as a key measure to address increased housing delivery and methods to support increased use of MMC are set out in Pathway 5 of Housing for All. In July 2023 the Roadmap for increased adoption of MMC in Public Housing delivery was published and sets out recommendations to progress the most advanced and efficient construction methods in the delivery of housing.

The Housing for All Land Acquisition Fund was established in 2022 to support local authorities to acquire land to deliver new build social housing schemes and this was extended in 2024 to include land for affordable housing. The fund has an overall allocation of €239m and is managed by the Housing Agency.

My Department has embedded the requirement to adopt a standardised approach for all Social Housing projects through adoption of the Design Manual for Quality Housing and Employers Requirements. Standard internal layouts and CAD Drawings are available to design teams. This is promoting a consistent approach nationally; it is decreasing the amount of time spent on reviewing proposals to achieve value for money; it is shortening detailed design phases; and it allows for a more efficient tender process.

The latest Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) shows that there were 879 homes on site and at various stages of design and procurement in South Dublin at the end of Quarter 4 2024. All CSRs 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 by local authority, location etc. at this link: opendata.housing.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q4-2024

The Affordable Housing Fund is available on an open, rolling basis to assist local authorities towards the cost of developing affordable housing for purchase or for rent in key urban areas where affordable housing needs have been identified. My Department and the Housing Agency are available to assist South Dublin County Council in this regard.

In support of City and Towns regeneration policies, such as Towns Centre First, the Ready to Build serviced sites scheme is available which supports local authorities to provide sites at a discount to people who want to build their own home. Further information with regard to the scheme is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/33209-ready-to-build-scheme-serviced-sites-for-new-homes/, or by contacting directly the Vacant Homes officer at South Dublin County Council.

The First Home Scheme supports first-time buyers in purchasing new homes on the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. The Scheme aims to support in the region of 8,000 households in acquiring new homes in the private market in the years 2022 to 2026 with an overall budget of €400 million. The scheme is available nationwide.

Other measures such as the Local Authority Home Loan, the Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Scheme, the Help to Buy Incentive, and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant are also available nationwide to help make home ownership more affordable.

My Department provides funding of €60,000 per annum to support each local authority's Vacant Homes Office, including a Vacant Homes Officer (VHO), this was increased from €50,000 in 2022. This supports the commitment in Housing for All to ensure that the VHO role in each local authority is full time. The provision of central funding reinforces the capacity of local authorities, including through the important role of VHOs, to ensure a dedicated focus on tackling vacancy and dereliction. Since 2023, all 31 local authorities have a full-time VHO in place

In addition my Department has provided funding of €180,000 to support each local authority in their administration of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Scheme.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social and affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority. This data is available to the end of Q4 2024, and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/