Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
676. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to confirm if the funding for the recently announced infrastructure fund to be administered by the housing delivery office, will be funded under REV programme subhead A21; to confirm that this replaced the local infrastructure housing activation fund; and the way in which the administration of this fund will differ from its LIHAF predecessor. [6520/26]
View answerThe Government announced a new multi-annual 1 billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund on 21 January 2026 to support direct investment in housing-enabling public infrastructure and to accelerate housing delivery.
The Fund will be managed by the Housing Activation Office (HAO) in my Department. The core objective of the Fund is to unblock critical infrastructure barriers and accelerate housing development on lands that are zoned for housing. By investing directly in transport, water, electricity and other enabling infrastructure, the Fund will ensure that land is properly serviced and ready to deliver homes.
The HIIF will be funded under Vote 34, Subhead A21 (Housing Infrastructure). This subhead will also provide funding for the completion of the remaining commitments approved under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund or LIHAF as it is commonly known.
The HIIF represents a significant step-change in ambition and scale. It is a substantially larger fund of up to 1 billion and is part of a more proactive, coordinated and strategic approach to infrastructure investment in support of housing delivery.
The Fund will be managed by the HAO, which brings together technical expertise from infrastructure agencies and the local government sector, alongside specialist planning and programme management capacity. This will support better knowledge sharing across key stakeholders and allow constraints to be addressed in a more targeted and effective way.
The HIIF is also designed to complement investment under the National Development Plan, ensuring alignment with investment by other Government Departments and infrastructure agencies to ensure that priority housing lands are serviced in a timely manner.
Call 1 under the HIIF opened on 21 January 2026 and is open to all local authorities and the Land Development Agency (LDA). Given the urgency of increasing housing supply, this first call focuses on infrastructure projects that are at an advanced stage and capable of delivery within the 2026–2028 period. Funding of up to 100% is available where this will accelerate housing delivery. The call will close on 27 February 2026.
All applications received will be subject to a detailed assessment and ranking process in line with the published scheme outline. Assessment will commence following the closing date, and recommendations will be brought forward in accordance with the governance arrangements of the Fund.
Full details of the HIIF Call 1 scheme outline can be found on my Departments website at the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/housing-infrastructure-investment-fund-call-1-scheme-outline/ I will continue to develop the Fund after Call 1, and intend to broaden the approach in 2026 to include a wider range of delivery approaches and a broader range of public and private sector delivery partners.
