Latest news with #HousingForAll
Irish Examiner
18 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Uisce Éireann warns of 'critical constraints' in water capacity
Uisce Éireann has warned that its capacity to serve could hit critical constraints resulting in housing delivery coming to a standstill in the next few years. Concerns were raised at the Oireachtas housing committee that housing delivery could be stymied in the next three or four years as the water utility urged for the situation to be treated as an emergency. The committee heard that an additional €2bn — paid out over five years — would be required in order to deliver on the Government's housing targets. Uisce Éireann's Strategic Funding Plan had set out a requirement of €10.3bn investment in capital infrastructure based on the Housing For All targets of 33,000 new homes per year for 2025 to 2029. "The Government has now moved to increase national housing targets by 17,000 additional units a year to 2030," CEO of Uisce Éireann, Niall Gleeson said. The challenge for infrastructure providers like Uisce Éireann is to work out how we can mobilise our workforce, funding, processes and supply chains to support these targets on top of our existing obligations. Mr Gleeson said Uisce Éireann "is not a housing delivery body" but is tasked with ensuring the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure for the construction of new developments and for the homes when they are completed. The Dublin area in particular is "running out of road" in terms of headroom and that projects in Dublin and the Eastern and Midlands region are on the cusp of critical phases, the committee heard. "Until we address the challenges highlighted in planning, consenting and funding, Uisce Éireann remains concerned about the level of risk in these projects," said Mr Gleeson. With the demand outstripping the supply in Dublin on certain days already this year, it was warned that the area could be one fine day away from the introduction of water restrictions. Funding is just one element that is needed to deliver the big and small projects that need to be delivered. Infrastructure projects need to be prioritised when it comes to planning, the process needs to be streamlined and the committee heard that when it comes to consent, there is an element of 'nimbyism' (not in my back yard). Mr Gleeson told the committee that the utility has "consistently advocated for an urgent approach" to addressing the issues facing infrastructure projects and reiterated the need for a sense of urgency. Read More Ireland facing sand and gravel shortage due to planning delays, industry warns
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Ireland's housing league table: Check if your area met target for new social homes
The Government plans to keep a league table of how the 31 local authorities are performing on the delivery of social housing. Minister for Housing James Browne has proposed regular publication of data on the performance of councils in constructing social housing on local authority land, especially on the delivery of 'own-build' homes. Advertisement Social homes are delivered in a number of ways under the Housing for All programme: self-build by the council; buying homes in turnkey conditions; acquiring them from non-profit approved housing agencies; or having them transferred from developers under Part V of the Planning Act. In terms of overall provision, including all modes of delivering social houses, the best performers between 2022 and 2024 were Laois (189 per cent of target), Meath (169 per cent) and Wicklow (142 per cent). The local authorities with the lowest figures compared to target were Dublin City Council (49 per cent) and Donegal County Council (46 per cent). Ireland Housing target of 41,000 'not realistic', Minister... Read More The figures also show local councils met just 18 per cent of their targets for building their own social housing between 2022 and 2024. Advertisement A little over 5,000 social homes were built by councils between 2022 and 2024 – compared to a target of 27,400. Three local authorities met less than 10 per cent of the target – Cork County, Kildare and Louth. Mr Browne is expected to tell Cabinet colleagues that releasing the data in this format will make the performances of councils in delivering social homes more transparent and more accountable.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Government to keep league table on how councils are performing on social housing
The Government will maintain an effective league table of how the 31 councils are performing on the delivery of social housing under a plan to go before Cabinet today. Minister for Housing James Browne will bring proposals for regular publication of data on the performance of councils in constructing social housing on local authority land, especially on the delivery of 'own-build' homes. While almost half of the city and county councils exceeded their Housing for All social housing targets last year, all local authorities performed poorly when it came to the self-build targets. A total of 5,065 homes were self-built by local authorities between 2022 and 2024, only 18 per cent of the target of 27,400. Two councils, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Sligo, reached only 10 per cent of the target while the three worst-performing councils on self-build were Cork County (8 per cent), Louth (4 per cent) and Kildare (three per cent). READ MORE Social homes are delivered in a number of ways under the Housing for All programme: self-build by the council; buying homes in turnkey conditions; acquiring them from non-profit approved housing agencies; or having them transferred from developers under Part V of the Planning Act. In terms of overall provision, including all modes of delivering social houses, the best performers between 2022 and 2024 were Laois (189 per cent), Meath (169 per cent) and Wicklow (142 per cent). The local authorities with the lowest figures compared to target were Dublin City Council (49 per cent) and Donegal County Council (46 per cent). Mr Browne is expected to tell ministerial colleagues that releasing the data in this format will make the performances of councils in delivering social homes more transparent and more accountable. It will also be received as a signal to councils with lower delivery to improve their performance. Mr Browne held a housing summit in early June during which he told local authority chief executives and planners that he wanted a 'serious scaling up' of delivery of social homes. He also agreed with executives that the existing four-stage process for approval was cumbersome. It is understood he will seek approval from Cabinet to reduce that to a one-step process, which will become operational from September this year. Standardised designs for new builds are also being mandated and more modern methods of construction will be incorporated. Mr Browne is expected to say that these measures will streamline the process. The Minister is also seeking approval for a Bill to extend the planning permission time periods for developments delayed by Judicial Review challenges. Tánaiste Simon Harris will tell Cabinet today that with just a week to go there is positive momentum in EU-US trade talks – but that 10 per cent baseline tariffs in some sectors will pose challenges for the Irish economy and businesses. Tánaiste Simon Harris is expected to tell the Cabinet meeting that there is a 'growing belief' at European Union level that agreement can be reached on a trade deal with the United States by the July 9th deadline. He will say that any deal will have to be assessed against what exclusions from the US-imposed 10 per cent tariff can be secured, including scope for zero-for-zero arrangements for key sectors, which Ireland has identified as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and aviation. In recent talks with Ambassador Jamieson Greer, Mr Harris raised sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals and underlined the interconnected nature of the sector on both sides of the Atlantic. In a speech to be delivered later today at an event marking exactly one year until Ireland takes up the EU presidency in the second half of 2026, the Tánaiste will say that the ongoing trade talks 'will fundamentally alter the union's relationship with the United States'. Minister for Higher Education James Lawless will note that construction contracts have been signed for five new buildings in university campuses, worth €380 million and being delivered under public-private partnership contracts. They will be located at the Waterford and Carlow campuses of South East Technical University, the Galway and Letterkenny campuses of Atlantic Technical University, and the Limerick campus of Technological University of the Shannon .
Irish Examiner
18-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Department finds 'positive indicators' of increasing housing supply, committee to hear
The head of the department of housing says that 'positive indicators' have emerged in terms of increasing housing supply, but that 'major challenges' remain. The department's secretary general Graham Doyle will on Thursday tell the Public Accounts Committee that in 2023 the number of new homes delivered was up 10% on that delivered in 2022, exceeding the Government's overarching Housing For All plan by nearly 13%, with 32,695 properties completed over the 12 months. He will add that 41,224 planning permissions were granted for new homes in 2023. However, he will also acknowledge the ongoing issues with delivering adequate supply for Ireland's population. 'At a broader level we continue to see major challenges around increased demand, increased costs and complex issues around unlocking supply at the pace and scale required. "This will remain an area of acute focus for the Department,' Mr Doyle is expected to say. Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy is expected to tell the committee his agency has established that the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive provided a number of funding advances to the Peter McVerry trust between March and September 2023 without the Government's approval. After it emerged that there were serious issues with the financial fundamentals of the trust in 2023, the Government was forced to bail the charity out to the tune of €15m. Mr McCarthy will also tell the committee that while €2m in normal funding provided to the trust was approved by the department at the same time, €5.3m was provided by the executive with none of the advances approved. The trust will not be present at the hearing, having declined an invitation to attend the PAC for a second time citing the investigations into its finances which are still in train. Read More
Irish Independent
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Another vacant creche in Wexford estate as questions are asked of council – ‘What are the legalities of this?'
'Those homes have never been lived in and the creche has never been used,' she said. 'It's my understanding that it's a requirement for the developers to provide this essential service for the community. But the creche wasn't utilised, instead it's left there while we have serious childcare issues across the district. "What are the legalities of this? What can we do as a local authority?' Accepting that there are 'a number' of creches in estates across the county which haven't been developed, housing officer Sharon Ryan said there were 'conditions attached' to planning applications but that she would have to return at the next meeting with further details. Separately, Cllr O'Brien returned to an assertion recently made by chief executive of Wexford County Council (WCC) Eddie Taaffe that the council is currently exceeding its housing targets. 'There's only 12 houses listed in our monthly report in this district, and there's only been six properties advertised on choice-based letting (CBL) in the RMD this year, how can we be exceeding our housing targets?' she asked. 'That's nowhere near ambitious enough to meet the demand that's out there. Could we propose a motion from the RMD that we get our fair share of housing delivery here because we're not exceeding our targets in this district anyway.' After Ms Ryan stated that a further 55 properties in the RMD were due to be made available via approved housing bodies (AHB), Angela Finn of housing capital said that, despite appearances, the Rosslare district would meet its targets under the Housing For All scheme. 'We've already delivered 35 in Rosetown, but because it's a five-year plan and the targets were set a long time ago they are coming in slowly – a lot of them were before your time,' she said to Cllr O'Brien, who was elected last year. 'The numbers allocated to RMD haven't quite been met yet but there's two years to go and we will get there.' Ms Finn also provided Cllr Frank Staples with an update regarding houses in Tagoat which she said will be available for CBL this month.
