Written Answers Nos. 391-410
392. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department provides any specific funding to local authorities for the purposes of refurbishment of vacant social housing stock; the amount of money that has been made available to each local authority for this purpose; and the amount that has been drawn down in each of the past five years. [36602/24]
View answerThe management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966.
Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure that all of their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2019. Local authority officials and elected members have a very important role to play in this regard by making adequate budgetary provision for housing repairs and cyclical maintenance utilising the significant housing rental income available to them as part of the annual budgetary process.
Notwithstanding this, my Department provides annual funding support to local authorities in preparing vacant units for re-let under the Voids Programme. This funding was introduced originally to tackle long-term vacant units and is now increasingly targeted to support authorities to ensure minimal turnaround and re-let times for vacant stock.
My Department has approved €31 million in funding to support the return of 2,300 vacant local authority homes this year.
An annualised breakdown by local authority of the funding provided and the number of properties remediated under the Voids programme for the years 2014 up to and including 2023 is available on my Department's website at the following link:
https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/0906a-other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme
Work in relation to the 2024 Programmes is ongoing, however, it will be later this year before significant recoupment claims are lodged with my Department. Full details in relation to 2024 output under this programme will be published on my Department’s website early in 2025.
393. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average length of time that a planning permission applicant for a single house has waited for a decision from An Bord Pleanála in each of the past ten years. [36603/24]
View answerAn Bord Pleanála (the Board) is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts.
The information requested is not held by my Department as timelines on decision making is a matter for An Bord Pleanála.
Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Bord Pleanála in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie .
394. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of planning permission applications for houses which have been received by An Bord Pleanála in each of the past ten years; the number of applications which have been refused; the number which have been granted; and the number for which a determination has yet to be made, in tabular form. [36604/24]
View answerAn Bord Pleanála (the Board) is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts.
The information requested is not held by my Department determination of planning appeals is a matter for An Bord Pleanála.
Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Bord Pleanála in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie .
395. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of persons working in An Bord Pleanála. [36605/24]
View answer396. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average annual salary of persons working in An Bord Pleanála. [36606/24]
View answer397. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will list the salaries of the top twenty best-paid persons working in An Bord Pleanála, in tabular form. [36607/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 395, 396 and 397 together.
An Bord Pleanála (the Board) is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts.
There are now more people working at the Board than at any time previously. Since October 2021, my Department has agreed to 117 new staffing posts in the Board. The Board has advised that as of 31 August 2024 there were 282 individuals working in the Board, across all roles, including Board Members. The Board received approval and sanction from my Department for a total of 313 posts to date.
As provided for under the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, the Board are required to disclose a breakdown of Board Members and Employees’ short-term benefits in excess of €60,000, in bands of €10,000, within their Annual Report and Accounts. A copy of the 2022 Annual Report and Accounts is available at Publications | An Bord Pleanála (pleanala.ie) . The 2023 Annual Report and Accounts is due to be published in the coming weeks.
Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Bord Pleanála in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie .
398. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost of a half-acre site zoned for residential use in rural Ireland, excluding cities. [36608/24]
View answerData in respect of prices paid for land are generally not captured by the State at this time.
In accordance with Action 48 of the latest Housing for All Action Plan Update of November 2023, the CSO has commenced work to develop regular descriptive statistics on residential land prices. To this end, a working group comprising the CSO, my Department and a number of other Departments, has been tasked with moving this work forward.
Updates on the progress of the working group will be provided in the Housing for All Action Plan progress reports as the work develops.
399. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average construction costs for social housing incurred by local authorities, per house, in tabular form. [36609/24]
View answerSocial Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) funded construction projects by local authorities must, like all publicly-funded construction programmes, comply with the Infrastructure Guidelines (Public Spending Code) and the Capital Works Management Framework.
My Department periodically issues Basic Unit Costs (BUCs) for each local authority area, for use as a key benchmark for the development and costing of project designs at capital appraisal stage. While not a record of actual delivery costs, BUCs are based on an analysis of returned data from tendered social housing schemes over an extended period and are updated based on published tender index information.
To monitor tender cost trends and to inform BUC levels, my Department analyses the tender data f or the construction cost element of new build social housing projects approved under the SHIP and the Capital Assistance Scheme, for the various unit types.
The tables below show the average construction costs (incl. VAT) per unit type, recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in 2023 and early 2024.
The tables also set out the range of costs that make up this average for each unit type. The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, location and on the level of abnormal requirements for each scheme (e.g. site conditions, demolitions, service diversions, site access requirements). Average abnormal costs are also separately identified in the below tables.
|
Construction Costs (incl. abnormals) |
Abnormal Costs |
|||
|
2023 & 2024 |
Average CostPer Unit |
Range of CostsPer Unit |
Average CostPer Unit |
Range of CostsPer Unit |
|
1bed house |
€238,882 |
€161k - €342k |
€31,918 |
€15k - €62k |
|
2bed house |
€273,549 |
€171k - €375k |
€35,068 |
€2k - €64k |
|
3bed house |
€306,179 |
€226k - €489k |
€35,081 |
€9k - €90k |
|
4bed house |
€337,779 |
€267k - €515k |
€32,505 |
€9k - €90k |
|
1bed apartment |
€281,413 |
€170k - €340k |
€29,932 |
€5k - €62k |
|
2bed apartment |
€315,319 |
€202k - €521k |
€39,101 |
€9k - €90k |
|
3bed apartment |
€396,043 |
€281k - €593k |
€25,622 |
€9k - €50k |
The costs in the above tables relate to the construction element only of the all-in delivery cost. Other items that make up the all-in total include:
• Design/technical fees: Design fees vary from project to project, depending on the location, size and complexity of a scheme (and depending on whether design services are provided by a local authority in-house or via external appointment). As a guideline/indicator, design fee are generally expected to range between 7.5% to 12.5% of construction costs
• Land cost: Land costs will vary significantly from project to project, depending on location and ownership status (i.e. land costs could vary from existing local authority land at no cost to land purchased at market value)
• Utilities: Connection fees for Irish Water, ESB, gas, etc. As a guideline/indicator, utility connection costs are generally in the order of €7k per unit
• Other Costs: Other items that make up the all-in delivery cost can include site investigations/surveys, archaeological requirements, Percent for Art contributions - and will vary from scheme to scheme.
400. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider revising local election regulations in relation to the ability of an individual being able to be a candidate in multiple local electoral areas given the potential abuses that can occur with the practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36626/24]
View answer401. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider revising local election regulations and legislation in relation to filling vacancies on local authorities caused by a candidate achieving enough votes to be elected in multiple local electoral areas, in order to give clarity to local authorities and not to encourage this practice, given the potential abuses that can occur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36627/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 400 and 401 together.
Article 124 of the Local Elections Regulations 1995 provides that where a person is elected for more than one local electoral area they shall either declare, within three days of the return of persons elected to the local authority being made, which area they choose to represent. If their declaration is not made within a specified time period, they shall be deemed to have chosen to represent the area in which they received the greatest number of first preference votes. The person will then be deemed not elected for the other local electoral areas. The consequential vacancy or vacancies in the membership of the local authority shall be regarded as casual vacancies and shall be filled accordingly.
Section 19 of the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended) provides for the filling of casual vacancies in local authorities by co-option.
Whilst electoral law is kept under ongoing review, I have no plans at present to amend these provisions.
402. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on plans to publish the list of legal authorised developments along the Waterways Ireland system by a person (details supplied) operations controller for Waterways Ireland committed to a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government on 9 July 2024; the reason it has not yet been published and a make a commitment to ensure that this information is published as soon as possible. [36642/24]
View answerWaterways Ireland is a North/South Implementation Body established under the British Irish Agreement of 10 April 1998. It is funded by my Department and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
The information requested is not held in my Department. Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for Waterways Ireland is oireachtas@waterwaysireland.org .
403. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware that Waterways Ireland has admitted several large commercial developments have been built on, or encroached onto, its property; who is responsible for these developments in the event of an accident; if they are insured by the operators of the unauthorised developments; and if not, if they are insured by Waterways Ireland and liable in the event of an accident in these unauthorised developments. [36643/24]
View answerWaterways Ireland is a North South Implementation Body established under the British Irish Agreement of 10 April 1998. It is funded by my Department and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
I am informed that Waterways Ireland has identified the existence of more than four hundred alleged encroachments on its property and has established a dedicated team to review each and to regularise, as appropriate. Waterways Ireland estimates that completion of this process will take between 3 and 5 years.
The detailed information requested in relation to particular alleged encroachments or unauthorised developments on property owned by Waterways Ireland is not held in my Department. Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for Waterways Ireland is ceoffice@waterwaysireland.org.
405. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to ensure that local authorities will continue to be obliged to preserve public rights of way in their development plans as they currently are under section 10(2)(o) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36720/24]
View answerSection 10(2)(0) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) deals with the management of public rights by planning authorities as part of their development plans. The Planning and Development Bill 2023 (the Bill) is currently before the Oireachtas and will replace the current Act once enacted.
The Bill has a number of provisions relating to public rights of way. Section 51(2) of the administrative reprint version of the Bill as amended at Seanad Committee Stage provides that a development management statement may include objectives for “preserving a specific public right of way, including a public right of way which gives access to any seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank, monument or other place of natural beauty or recreational utility;”.
Section 51(4) provides that nothing in section 51 shall “affect the existence or validity of any public right of way and section 51(5) provides that “An objective included in a development plan under this section shall not be construed as affecting the power of a local authority to extinguish a public right of way under section 73 of the Roads Act 1993.”.
Section 60 of the Bill further goes on to set out the procedure for including a provision in a development plan relating to the preservation of a specific public right of way which include providing notice with a map of the right of way. Section 60(11) provides that nothing in section 60 “shall affect the existence or validity of any public right of way which is not included in a development plan.”.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the creation of public rights of way, either by agreement or compulsorily, are matters already provided for under sections 264 and 265 of the Bill. Section 266 further provides for a right of way to be maintained by the planning authority.
I am satisfied that there are adequate provisions in the Bill to provide for the creation, preservation and maintenance of rights of way.
406. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated cost of raising the current social housing income eligibility thresholds by €10,000 per year nationwide, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36740/24]
View answerHousing for All, first published in Q3 2021, set out a commitment to review income eligibility for social housing. From this review, it was recommended moving five local authorities from Band 3 to Band 2, ensuring the income eligibility thresholds better reflect housing costs in those counties. Government also agreed to increase the baseline income thresholds by €5,000 for all local authorities with effect from 1 January 2023. The thresholds thus increased to €40,000, €35,000 and €30,000 for bands 1, 2 and 3 respectively.The review further recommended the commissioning of research to develop options for a revised or new social housing income eligibility model. My Department received this detailed research, commissioned by the Housing Agency. The scope of the research included examining the existing income limits in the context of current market and population conditions and the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significantly changed landscape since the standardised income limits were introduced.
My Department is now undertaking a detailed examination of the report, in order to develop a new social housing income eligibility model in line with the Housing for All Action Plan update. This detailed examination will include consultation with stakeholders and will look at, inter alia, how the social housing income limits system interacts with other housing supports and ensure that they continue to target households correctly.
The information requested, which relies on a range of different data inputs and analysis, is not currently available as the considerations I have referred to are still ongoing in my Department.
407. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the latest figures on the number of households on the HAP and RAS schemes and rent allowance respectively; the cost of each, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36741/24]
View answerMy Department publishes comprehensive program level data on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery and spend activity, including the number of active tenancies in the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).
The latest published figures for total active HAP tenancies (at end of Q1 2024) and full year spend for 2023 are available at the following link - assets.gov.ie/289117/f7b6e8f7-927f-42d4-9b3d-188e7ecca467.xlsx
The latest published figures for the total active RAS tenancies and spend (at end of Q1 2024) are available at the following link - assets.gov.ie/298992/c58038fe-0c95-457b-9c23-afd6c8a2298e.xlsx
Q2 2024 figures are currently being compiled and will be published when that process is complete.
Responsibility for the Rent Supplement Scheme falls within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection.
408. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of households currently privately renting their principal residence; the number of those households that are within the social housing income limits; the number within the cost rental income limits; the number above those limits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36742/24]
View answerThe Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 (RTA), to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants and as such, the registration of tenancies is an operational matter for the RTB.
My Department does not hold the details sought. Arrangements have been put in place to facilitate the provision of information by State Bodies to members of the Oireachtas. The RTB has set up a dedicated email address for this purpose and may be contacted at OireachtasMembersQueries@rtb.ie to establish the extent to which it may hold the information sought.
410. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he intends to hold a referendum on the public ownership and management of water and the right to housing. [36788/24]
View answerI established the Commission on Housing in December 2021 to examine and evaluate Ireland's housing system. At the same time, I tasked the Commission with advising Government on the critical factors to be considered regarding a referendum on housing and, if appropriate, to recommend wording for a constitutional change. While this is not a commitment to a referendum on a 'right to housing', it wasn't precluded by the Commission's terms of reference.
The Housing Commission has submitted its report and recommendations to me regarding a proposed constitutional amendment. The reports and associated supporting documentation have been submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for its consideration, to allow for as wide a government perspective as possible. In terms of next steps, it is intended to establish an inter-departmental group to consider and develop policy proposals for Government. This group will have regard to the Commission's proposals, the Joint Oireachtas Committee's considerations, and any legal advice provided by the Office of the Attorney General, as part of the process.
I expect that recommendations could be ready to be brought to Government in the first half of 2025. Proposals regarding the scheduling of a referendum will be considered at that time.
I have previously committed to bringing forward a referendum proposal on public ownership of water services for Government consideration in conjunction with recommendations in respect of a proposed referendum on housing, and that remains the intention.
