Funding totalling €4.27 million is being provided to the Galway City Council for the construction for a total of 23 social houses - a mix of two bedroom and one bedroom homes - at four locations in the city.
Ten new homes will be built at Ballinfoile Park with an investment of €1.8 million; six new homes will be at Carn Ard, Circular Road, with funding of €1.1 million; four new homes will be built at Castlepark, Ballybane, with funding of €735,000; while €549,000 will fund three new homes at Corrib Park. Funding for the construction is being provided by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.
Fine Gael Galway West TD and Minister for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development, Seán Kyne, has welcomed the funding for the new social houses.“The locations of these new homes is making best use of the land in city council-owned land," he said.
According to Minister Kyne, €3.69 million of the investment will fund the construction costs and "will provide a boost to the local construction industry". A further €574,000 will fund technical fees, site investigations, utilities connections, and other costs associated with providing the new homes.
The funding is part of the Rebuilding Ireland Strategy which aims to help Local Authorities with housing provision and improve the rental market. Government critics, while they will welcome the provision of new social housing, will point out that 23 new homes on their own will not come close to tackling the city's housing waiting list.
In February the city council confirmed it would begin constructing 14 social houses in the Knocknacarra area, and a further 250 houses over the next five years. Independent Galway West TD Catherine Connolly said this was "inadequate" to deal with a waiting list of 4,720 households, including some applicants on the two-bedroom list waiting for more than 15 years.
