Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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110. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the proposals there are to deal with issues that have arisen following the issuing of Circular 11/2025 in relation to the ability of AHBs, including St. John of God's, to provide for housing for people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35629/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) funding provides up to 100% capital funding to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the construction and targeted acquisition of housing for priority needs categories to include persons with a disability.

While there have been no changes to the fundamental operation of CAS regarding the funding for priority needs categories, second-hand acquisitions funded under CAS do fall under the provisions of the Second-Hand Acquisitions circular, Circular 11/2025 Social Housing Second-Hand Acquisitions Programme 2025 which allocated €325million specifically for second-hand acquisitions nationally. The capital funding allocation available to each local authority for 2025 includes acquisitions completed by AHBs within that local authority's functional area. Local authorities are asked to work strategically with AHBs to ensure that acquisitions completed by them, under programmes such as Housing First and accommodation for care leavers and disabled persons, can be managed within the local authorities’ capital funding allocation.

The provision of a capital funding allocation for acquisitions will help promote best practice in obtaining value for money and provide local authorities with the flexibility to respond to needs and priorities locally to include persons with a disability which are a priority category. Applications to deliver social housing for priority category needs under the CAS scheme are made by AHBs to local authorities and it is a matter for the individual local authority to prioritise projects on the basis of how they meet the area's housing need.

The build programmes remain the primary approach to the delivery of new social homes nationally and I would encourage AHBs that traditionally relied heavily on second-hand acquisitions to meet their housing need to explore alternative funding arrangements under CAS such as CAS construction and CAS construction renewal. To further assist in the delivery of housing solutions for persons with a disability my Department continues to encourage the inclusion of a group/community home for people with disabilities in new large developments being brought forward by local authorities under the Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP).