Latest news with #OireachtasCommittee
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Councils warn building 12,000 social homes a year not feasible without urgent support
Local authorities have said that the Government's target of delivering 12,000 social homes each year is 'simply not feasible' without urgent structural support. The association representing the management of all 31 county and city councils told the Oireachtas Committee on Housing on Tuesday that scaling up delivery would require more access to suitably zoned land, higher staffing levels in local authorities and more streamlined processes to ensure there were no unnecessary delays. Eddie Taaffe, chief executive of Wexford County Council , told the committee that local authorities have delivered 24,000 social homes since 2022. He said sustained financial support, upfront capital, and borrowing capacity to support cost-rental delivery would also be required. The chair of the association's housing committee said that local authorities held 560 land banks throughout the State, with capacity for 21,500 homes. However, he said that more than a quarter of those sites (28 per cent) could not proceed due to inadequate access to essential services such as water, wastewater, and electricity. READ MORE Several members of the committee, chaired by Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) pointed out that the land banks would only cover two years of the Government's Housing for All targets of 12,000 social homes a year. Mr Taaffe agreed with Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin that councils would need to build their land banks. On staffing, he said that housing teams within local authorities were 'under severe strain' as staffing levels have not kept pace with significant additional remits and functions. The delivery of mixed tenure – combining social, affordable and cost rental homes – was critical, he said, as they supported balanced communities. He added that they should be complemented by access to schools, healthcare and public amenities. [ How much can I earn and still qualify for social housing? Opens in new window ] Elaine Leech, director of services for housing for South Dublin County Council, said Clonburris, a sustainably built neighbourhood of 9,000 units, was a good example of a high-density housing community, with a master plan that included all essential services and amenities such as schools, shops, parks, transport links and space. In his opening statement, Mr Taaffe also advocated more strategic use of modern methods of construction, especially 3D constructions, where the entire housing unit is wholly manufactured in the factory and then installed on site. Asked by Séamus McGrath (Fianna Fáil) about the level of voids (or vacant properties) in the local authority stock, Mr Taaffe said that often when a property returned to the council, it could have been the first time that work was done on the house or flat for 20 years. He instanced the need for a deep retrofit, rewiring, replumbing, boiler replacement and replacing a kitchen that might not have been changed for many years Having to do significant work on older housing stock meant that it took some time before it could be re-let.
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
‘Lowballing' for big public projects to be tackled by new Dáil infrastructure committee
The chair of the powerful new Oireachtas Committee on Infrastructure has said it will examine the practice of 'lowballing' on public capital projects, where estimates of cost are pitched low but the price escalates afterwards. Sean Fleming , a long-serving Fianna Fáil TD with ministerial experience, has said one area he would focus on would be preventing huge disparities that emerge between the projected cost at the beginning of a project and the actual costs when it is completed. Examples include the Shannon to Dublin water pipeline, the long-running plan to establish a Metrolink line in Dublin, and the national children's hospital, which is set to cost about four times its initial estimate of €600 million. Mr Fleming, a TD for Laois, said the practice of lowballing 'undermines public confidence in big projects'. READ MORE 'Those planning a project will come in with a low figure for a big project, say €500 million. That will allow it to get through the system because it is politically acceptable. The problem is it is not realistic. It does not take into account inflation, or changing standards, or design changes that they should have known would be needed,' he said. 'And then the costs begin to escalate and it ends up costing €2 billion.' Mr Fleming said that 'with scarce resources they probably feel they can get it through in dribs and drabs rather than as a whole'. 'It's not a good way of doing it. It leads to higher costs and to delays and it angers the public,' he said. Mr Fleming said he wanted the public to get accurate information on the costs of big projects, their timelines, specifications and completion dates before the project starts. [ Children's hospital 'never-ending saga', says Opposition after completion delayed until September Opens in new window ] His committee, which will also look at all National Development Plan projects, has a wide remit to examine all big public capital and infrastructure projects at the conception stage. He says its purpose is essentially to ensure the public is not led astray on the cost of such big public projects. He said his committee would be the flip side of the Public Accounts Committee, the public spending watchdog. 'They look back at what was spent or misspent. We are looking forward, making sure we have accountability every step of the way,' said Mr Fleming. He said the secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure, David Moloney, would be the first person invited to attend. The committee would be looking to understand what was involved with every step of big public projects, he said. He said he was also keen to call in representatives of An Bord Pleanála and the Court Services to examine why significant delays occur when appeals are made against large projects during the planning process. The committee will be able to examine projects commissioned under all 15 Government departments. Labour's housing spokesman Conor Sheehan has already written to Mr Fleming asking for the new committee's first action to be issuing an invite to Minister for Housing James Browne to set out his proposals for the Housing Activation Office, the new Government office aimed at speeding up the building of homes to ease the housing crisis.
RTÉ News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Populism no concern for elected Dublin mayor plan
Concerns about the election of populist figures who could exploit the position for personal gain should not deter the Government from proceeding with a vote on a directly elected mayor for Dublin. That's according to the current Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, who was speaking at a conference on the issue in DCU today. The session also heard calls for the Government to hold a vote on a directly elected mayor for the capital during its current term of government. It is more than two years since a Citizens Assembly on a directly elected mayor for Dublin proposed holding a plebiscite on the issue. An Oireachtas Committee later recommended that such a vote only be held after the Government clarifies the remit and power of the office. Recent reports suggest that the political ambitions of former MMA fighter Conor McGregor has resulted in a reluctance in Government to progress the issue. But John Moran, who became the directly elected Mayor of Limerick last June, said that such concern should not stop progress in the capital. "We had the same issues in Limerick, people said there'd be some celebrity candidates, some populist candidates and what you saw was 15 great candidates. In Limerick there was a strong feeling that the right person was somebody who was independent. "70% of the votes remaining in the second last count were going to two independent candidates and I think that's natural because the mayor represents everybody in the city." Bríd Quinn believes there is momentum towards progressing a vote in Dublin on a directly elected mayor Bríd Quinn, who was an advisor to the Citizens Assembly on a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin, said that she believes there is now momentum about progressing a vote in the capital on the issue and the Government should move to ensure that Ireland catches up with other European countries. "So many of the things that local government would like to do are restricted by national demands or national standards or national requirements, so there had been that gap. "Dublin has such an influence on what happens in Ireland and so much of the economic activity happens here in Dublin that its important the government structure in Dublin work to the best effect." The Programme for Government commits to considering further plebiscites in Dublin and other cities on the issue of a directly elected mayor. Asked if there were any timelines or work under way, the Department of Local Government would only say that the recommendations on a mayor for the capital are under consideration.
