Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
181. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he is aware of social housing tenants in Galway city and county experiencing housing maintenance issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4966/26]
View answerThe management, letting and tenanting of local authority social homes is a matter for each individual local authority under s.58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities must also ensure all tenanted properties comply with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. To this end, they must make 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 these obligations, my Department will provide some €260 million as a contribution towards the remediation and maintenance of local authority homes through various funding programmes in 2026. This includes €40 million under the Planned Maintenance and Voids Programme to specifically support this work. Local authorities are responsible for the detailed administration of the programme, including assessing, approving and prioritising works.
Furthermore, my Department is continuing to work closely with local authorities to promote preventative maintenance of social housing, informed by stock condition surveys. Currently surveys are progressing with some 10,600 completed to date. These ongoing stock condition surveys, expected to be completed on all local authority housing stock over the next four or five years, and planned and responsive maintenance and programmes such as the national regeneration programme, Energy Retrofitting and Voids will continue to improve housing quality.
