Minister O’Brien approves 211 new housing posts for Local Authorities, 8 in Waterford
Additional staffing resources for housing-related projects
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD has approved more than 200 new posts for local authority housing delivery teams across the country which will assist Councils in delivering their social housing targets.
Waterford City and County Council will introduce eight new housing posts to its housing delivery team to assist with meeting its targets under Housing for All.
Housing for All, the Government’s new housing Plan, commits to strengthening the capacity of Local Authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects. The Plan acknowledges that this requires the resourcing of housing delivery teams and the posts being announced today include a wide range of positions from engineers to quantity surveyors and architects with provision also made for the necessary administrative resources.
Commenting Minister O’Brien said, “In September this year, the Government published our new housing strategy, ‘Housing for All’. It is the most comprehensive housing plan in the history of the State backed by an unprecedented €4bn per year.
“Under ‘Housing for All’, we will deliver nearly 90,000 new-build social homes by 2030 and we have put a very clear focus on the delivery of new build projects.
“My Department has been working with the Housing Delivery Coordination 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.
Michael Walsh, Chief Executive, Waterford City and County Council added, “The department’s commitment to delivering social and affordable homes, not just in Waterford, but throughout the country, is underpinned by this announcement. The availability of new personnel and resources will greatly assist Waterford’s housing delivery team meet its target under Housing for All.”