Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2026
108. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to advise if approved housing bodies that provide housing for tenants with specific needs, such as people with disabilities and those exiting homelessness, can access CALF and P and A funding streams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35566/26]
View answer109. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail the funding provided to approved housing bodies that provide housing for tenants with disabilities through CALF and P and A funding streams for the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35567/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 109 together.
Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) is a capital funding support provided exclusively to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), through local authorities, to facilitate the financing of a turnkey purchase or construction of social housing units, predominantly for general social housing needs. The resultant housing properties are provided to local authorities for social housing use under long-term lease arrangements known as Payment and Availability Agreements (PAAs). The AHB makes the properties available under a PAA to nominees of the local authorities, from their social housing waiting lists, for a set period, usually between 25 and 30 years. The local authority issues the CALF funding to the AHB and the local authority, in turn, recoups same from the Department.
My Department supports local authorities and AHBs to deliver social housing for persons with disabilities and individuals exiting homeless, through varied funding programmes. Currently, the housing needs for people with disabilities are primarily funded under the capital schemes for local authority housing through the Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) and to the AHBs through the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS). CAS funding is for the provision of independent living accommodation to meet the needs of people requiring specific categories of needs, including persons with disabilities. While CAS provides specifically for priority category needs, including people with disabilities; CALF indirectly supports specialised cohorts, where units are designed to accommodate general and specialised needs.
The funding schemes in place in my Department to support the AHB sector are under review in order that they can continue to support the nature and type of delivery required under the new national housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. My Department is working with Indecon on CALF, and we are also updating the CAS scheme while examining the current demarcation between CAS and CALF. I expect that all this work will be completed in Quarter 3 this year.
The allocation of social housing to tenants is an issue for the local authorities. My Department does not collect disaggregated data on AHB expenditure by specific cohorts, such as persons with disabilities.
In 2026, my Department will provide some €575 million for AHB delivered social housing through CALF, and €181 million specifically for specialist needs cohorts via CAS, with €50 million of this ring-fenced to support urgent acquisitions of second-hand homes for persons with disabilities, older persons, and care leavers.
