Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 December 2025
343. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of social housing projects approved above basic unit cost levels in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025; the reasons for the variance in each case; and the way his Department intends to begin systematically recording and publishing this information. [68824/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraFurther to my response to Question No. 572 of 25 November 2025, the information sought is not readily available as the systems used to track projects though the various lifecycle stages do not record the variance between Basic Unit Costs (BUCs) and approved construction budgets. It is not intended to record or publish this information.
My Department periodically issues BUCs for each local authority area as key benchmarks for developing and costing housing scheme designs at the initial capital appraisal stage. They are not intended to be limits or ceilings on project costs, rather their function is to provide local authorities with guideline costings at an early stage of project development.
While not a record of actual delivery costs, BUCs are informed by analysis of returned tender data from tendered social housing schemes and reflect a ‘base build cost’, excluding abnormals (i.e. project specific requirements such as poor ground conditions, site topography, special needs requirements). Given the nature of construction, all projects would be expected to have some level of abnormal or project specific requirements. However, the extent of such requirements will vary significantly from project to project.
As outlined in my earlier response, all proposals for social housing construction projects are assessed by my department on a case-by-case basis, taking the above factors into account and having regard to value for money, compliance with design guidelines, the Capital Works Management Framework, Infrastructure Guidelines, procurement procedures and most economically advantageous tender evaluations, as well as overall suitability, before budgets are issued to local authorities. As a result, any project approved for capital funding has been thoroughly appraised and my Department has satisfied itself that the cost of construction is justified and necessary.
Given each proposal is so rigorously assessed, and any construction budget approval accounts for the specific requirements and challenges presented by each individual proposal or site, my Department does not systematically record and publish information on variances above or below the BUCs for each project, as such data would be of limited meaningful value and may be misinterpreted.
