The number of staff engaged in the coordination and monitoring unit to assist local authorities and regional assemblies

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the number of staff engaged in the coordination and monitoring unit to assist local authorities and regional assemblies in the development of the housing needs demand assessment; the anticipated number by the end of 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The National Planning Framework (NPF), published by Government in February 2018 under Project Ireland 2040, provides for a Housing Need Demand Assessment (HNDA) to be developed by each local authority, in a co-ordinated fashion, to support the preparation of wider statutory housing and core strategies as part of the relevant local authority development plans.
The HDNA approach is envisaged as a refinement of the existing processes as set out above and therefore does not require any new co-ordination and monitoring unit as suggested.  The HNDA is to be undertaken by local authorities, with coordination through the Regional Assemblies, to ensure an effective response to cross-authority and assembly matters, for example in relation to metropolitan areas where city regions straddle two or more local authority areas. Building on their past experience in developing housing strategies and core strategies, local authorities will develop the new HDNA approach, drawing upon information on demographic, affordability and wider economic trends, coupled to the profile of the existing housing stock and its management.
Recognising the critical role that the local government sector will have in the ongoing implementation of the NPF, including the preparation of the HNDA, my Department has engaged in a series of workshops in recent weeks to ensure that the local authorities are fully informed and prepared in embarking on the HDNA process.  I expect that this process will continue in the normal course, supported by the dissemination of any further advice and guidance as required.