Written Answers Nos. 407-419
407. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the pay and conditions of graveyard caretakers (details supplied) will be examined and improved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16615/24]
View answerThe information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.
408. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he expects Priority Action 1 of Housing for all to be completed; his plans to publish the actions of the high-level working group on efficiency of the social and affordable housing allocation; the timeline for the implementation of the improvements aimed at reducing allocation time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16620/24]
View answer409. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Priority Action 2 of Housing for all; the timeline for the publishing of the strategic review of the AHB sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16621/24]
View answer411. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Priority Action 9 of Housing for All; his plans to publish the discussion paper on factors influencing viability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16623/24]
View answer412. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Priority Action 10 of Housing for All; whether a consultancy has been secured to undertake the study on associated costs of construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16624/24]
View answer414. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Priority Action 14 of Housing for All; when he expects to publish the report on lessons learnt and recommendations to support adoption of modern methods of construction in delivery of social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16626/24]
View answer415. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the progress on Priority Action 15 of Housing for All; how many units are projected to be delivered as a result of design-and-build procurement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16627/24]
View answer416. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for completion of Priority Action 19 of Housing for All; the progress of the study on the potential for SME growth in residential construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16629/24]
View answer417. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the progress on Priority Action 20 of Housing for All; the number of workers entering and returning to the construction industry in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16630/24]
View answer421. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Priority Action 28 of Housing for All; the timeline for publishing the results of the CPO activation programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16634/24]
View answer422. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Priority Action 30 of Housing for All; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16635/24]
View answer423. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Action 38 of Housing for All; the relevant State lands which will be transferred to the LDA in 2024 and 2025 for housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16636/24]
View answer427. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for completion of Action 32 of Housing for All; his plans to publish case examples of efficient and innovative housing designs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16640/24]
View answer428. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for completion of Action 33 of Housing for All; his plans to allow individuals to share cost rental homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16641/24]
View answer429. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for completion of Action 33 of Housing for All; his plans to allow AHBs to deliver CALF construction projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16642/24]
View answer432. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Action 53 of Housing for All and for the delivery of the training and awareness programme on cost and impact of different construction materials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16647/24]
View answer433. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the completion of Action 54 of Housing for All; the progress on training interventions for building control authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16648/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 408, 409, 411, 412, 414 to 417, inclusive, 421 to 423, inclusive, 427 to 429, inclusive, 432 and 433 together.
Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year in this decade. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes.
Housing for All is a whole-of-Government Plan, encompassing numerous policy areas across the four pathways to a sustainable housing system. My Department is working in close collaboration with all relevant Government Departments, State Agencies and other stakeholders, with a strong focus on implementation and delivery.
The Government publishes progress reports every quarter, and will continue to do so throughout the lifetime of the Plan. These detail the progress made on all Housing for All actions and policy objectives that have a delivery timeline relevant to the publication. There have been ten quarterly progress reports published to date.
The most recent progress report, for Q4 2023, published on 25 January 2024, details the progress made to date on the actions identified as part of the Housing for All Updated Action Plan which was published on 14 November 2023. This, and other progress reports to date, can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: h
www.gov.ie/en/collection/9d2ee-housing-for-all-quarterly-progress-reports/
The 11th progress report, for Q1 2024, will be published shortly.
410. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an overview of the progress of the LDA's active sites and State lands with near-/medium-term development potential by the LDA; the forecast for the delivery of units by the LDA in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16622/24]
View answerOn establishing the Land Development Agency (LDA) and in Housing for All, the Government agreed the transfer of almost 30 parcels of State -owned land to the LDA to deliver housing.
We are now seeing real progress on the better use of vacant and underutilised State land as the transfer of lands to the LDA is now underway, and a strong housing delivery pipeline from those lands is being developed which will optimise the LDA's delivery capacity for the next 5-10 years.
In Cork City, construction work is underway at the St Kevin’s Hospital site which was formally transferred to the LDA from the HSE last year. 265 homes are scheduled to be delivered on the site, with the first homes due for completion in 2025. The remaining homes are projected to be delivered in 2026/2027.
The transfer of land at Devoy Barracks in Naas, Co. Kildare to the LDA is also now complete, and 219 homes are expected to be delivered on the site. Construction commenced in December 2023 and delivery of the first phase of homes is expected in mid 2025.
The LDA has secured planning approval for 345 homes in Hackettstown, Skerries and 817 homes in Castlelands, Balbriggan and the transfer of these sites to the LDA from the Housing Agency is in progress. Planning Permission has also been granted for 847 homes on the former Central Mental Hospital site in Dundrum.
The transfer of land and design work is underway to allow a planning application within the next year on the vacant ESB land at Wilton with a potential yield of approximately 300 homes.
The LDA are also partnering with local authorities to deliver social and affordable homes on local authority land. Construction of 597 new homes at Shanganagh, Co Dublin is being delivered in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) and will be devoted 100% to affordable and social homes, with the first homes expected to be delivered this year.
The LDA have also secured approval for 543 units at the Donore project on the site of the former St Teresa’s Gardens complex, which is a partnership with Dublin City Council. The LDA is also partnering with Dublin City Council on the delivery of 146 new homes at Cromcastle, Dublin 5 with construction due to commence on site this year.
In addition, the LDA and Dublin City Council have announced a new development of over 1,100 homes at Cherry Orchard Point in Dublin, which, along with retail and community space, is to be developed on greenfield lands owned by Dublin City Council. A planning application for Phase 1 (708 homes) was made to An Bord Pleanála in December 2023 and proposals for Phases 2 and 3 are currently at preplanning stage.
The LDA's first Report on Relevant Public Lands, published in 2023, identified a potential pipeline of further sites for future housing delivery. Suitable sites for housing development being recommended for transfer to the LDA will be considered by Government in sets, based on highest priority sites and lowest level of site constraints.
Following a series of stakeholder engagement meetings between my Department and the land owners for each of these sites, recommendations were made to and agreed by Government in February, to transfer a further 9 state owned sites to the LDA for the development of affordable and social housing. These 9 sites are spread across locations in Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Cork and Galway, and collectively have the potential to deliver over 3,000 homes.
Subsequent sets of sites will be considered by Government in due course. These transferred sites will add to the LDA's existing housing delivery pipeline of social and affordable homes
In line with Action 10.1 of the Housing for All Action Plan Update and Q3 2023 Progress Report, progress on sites transferring to the LDA for public housing development will be continue to be outlined in the Housing for All quarterly reports, which can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/9d2ee-housing-for-all-quarterly-progress-reports/ The Housing for All Q1 2024 Progress Report will be published shortly.
413. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the sites identified for accelerated delivery of housing through modern methods of construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16625/24]
View answerModern Methods of Construction (MMC) has been identified as a key measure to address the different housing needs in Ireland and methods to support the development of MMC in Ireland are set out in Housing for All.
In December 2022, funding of €94m was provided to local authorities to address legacy land debts. The provision of this funding was linked to the immediate development of a housing proposal, a commitment to use Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and for construction to start in 2023 or no later than 2024. A total of 26 sites received funding as part of an accelerated delivery programme, and with some additional sites since added, my Department is overseeing a project to progress delivery of MMC projects on 36 sites which will deliver more than 1,500 new social homes across 13 local authorities.
The table below shows the breakdown of the sites in the programme by local authority.
|
Local authority |
No of Projects |
No. of Homes (approx) |
|
Cork City |
1 |
222 |
|
Cork County |
4 |
71 |
|
DLR |
3 |
300 |
|
Fingal |
5 |
263 |
|
Galway City |
1 |
84 |
|
Kerry |
4 |
172 |
|
Kildare |
1 |
65 |
|
Limerick |
1 |
19 |
|
Louth |
5 |
309 |
|
Meath |
1 |
47 |
|
Sligo |
9 |
281 |
|
Waterford |
1 |
35 |
|
Westmeath |
1 |
12 |
418. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for the publishing of the review of the private rental sector; the recommendations ensuing from the review; the timeline for the implementation of the recommendations of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16631/24]
View answerMy Department is currently undertaking a review of the private rental sector, as set out in the Housing for All Action Plan Update. The review will consider the significant regulatory changes over the past several years in the residential rental market, including the operation of rent pressure zones.
The review will draw conclusions on how the housing system can be enhanced to provide an efficient, affordable, viable, safe, and secure framework for both landlords and tenants. As a part of the review process a targeted stakeholder workshop was held and a public consultation was undertaken. The finalised report will include potential avenues for policy change to be considered by Government.
The Government publishes quarterly Housing for All progress reports, which detail the progress made on all Housing for All actions and policy objectives that have a delivery timeline relevant to the publication. These can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/9d2ee-housing-for-all-quarterly-progress-reports/.
419. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he expects to publish the draft revision of the National Planning Framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16632/24]
View answerOn 20 June 2023, Government gave approval to commence the process of undertaking the First Revision of the National Planning Framework (NPF), pursuant to Section 20C (5) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended) and to publish a Roadmap for the First Revision outlining the process and timeline for the revision process.
Further to Census 2022, my Department engaged the Economic Social and Research Institute (ESRI) to update their previous projections relating to population growth to 2040, based on demographic and econometric modelling and having regard to the results of Census 2022 and other factors with potential to influence fertility, mortality and migration trends. In addition, the research will outline projections relating to structural housing demand having regard to factors such as headship and obsolescence.
The ESRI are currently finalising their report, which will then be peer-reviewed prior to publication.
This ESRI data is critical in order to finalise the updates to population targets on a regional basis to 2030 and 2040 as included in the strategy, and other key elements related to the estimated number of houses required to be accommodated over the period to 2040.
Accordingly, on 5 March, the Government agreed to the deferral of the approval of a draft and final revised NPF. A Statement from the Government in this regard was published and can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/press-release/b7288-statement-from-department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/.
