Additional staffing resources for social housing-related projects have been announced with the creation of more than 200 new posts for local authority housing delivery teams across the country, as part of a key commitment under the ‘Housing for All’ policy.

In making the announcement the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, described ‘Housing for All’ (published in September 2021) as the most comprehensive plan in the history of the State, which he said was “backed by an unprecedented €4bn per year”.

The Government’s new plan commits to strengthening the capacity of local authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects. The 200 extra staffing posts will include a wide range of positions from engineers to quantity surveyors and architects, with provision also made for the necessary administrative resources.

Under ‘Housing for All’ the Government aims to deliver nearly 90,000 new build social homes by 2030, and Minister O’Brien said that they have put a very clear focus on the delivery of new build projects.

“My Department has been working with the Housing Delivery Co-ordination Office (HDCO) and the County and City Management Association (CCMA) to identify capacity limitations and additional staffing resources required to deliver our objectives. With the approval of these new posts, we are ensuring that all local authorities have the capacity to deliver the scale of social housing delivery required,” he concluded.