Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
145. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department is tracking the progression of commenced housing units through the construction pipeline, including build-out timelines and completion rates; and how this information is being used to identify and remove bottlenecks after commencement. [5000/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department tracks and monitors, on an on-going basis, a broad range of data in relation to housing delivery. This includes monitoring high-level indicators such as planning permissions, commencements and completions as well as various sectoral publications and commentary with a view to obtaining as comprehensive an overview as possible of overall delivery, to ensure we continue to have a sufficient pipeline of residential development.
For example, my Department has recently begun monitoring the use of commencement notices to track the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction. While further analysis of data is being carried out to assess construction times for MMC dwellings, such techniques can speed up delivery of construction projects by between 20% and 40%.
My Department also closely monitors the progress of public delivery programmes. Data in relation to the social housing pipeline is published on my Department’s website on a quarterly basis in the Social Housing Construction Status Report. My Department also publishes detailed programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social and affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies.
According to the most recent CSR Report for Quarter 3 2025, 25,848 social homes were at design and construction stages at the end of September - with 13,064 of those onsite and 12,784 at the design and tender stage.
In respect of affordable housing, the most recent data showed 2,061 affordable housing supports were delivered in Q3 of 2025, via AHBs, local authorities, the LDA, the Cost Rental Tenant-in-Situ scheme, the First Home Scheme, and through the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.
A strong pipeline is being built but we are monitoring any potential bottlenecks. I have established a Housing Activation Office to ensure we identify and address infrastructure barriers to housing delivery as a matter of priority. That Office is now operational and co-ordinating and accelerating the delivery of infrastructure projects that are essential to unlocking housing development on sites nationwide, including through the new infrastructure fund which I launched yesterday.
