State housing policy criticised as 'economically reckless and heartless'

Development levies are fees charged by councils on new property developments to fund public infrastructure. They often involve payments in lieu of specific obligations such social housing. File picture

Around €1.5bn collected through development levies is sitting in local authority accounts, according to campaign group Before We Die (BWD), which has described the State's housing policy as "economically reckless" and "heartless".

The figures are contained in a BWD report compiled using Freedom of Information requests sent to Ireland's 31 local authorities.

The group campaigns on behalf of ageing carers of adults with intellectual disabilities and says Ireland faces a demographic cliff edge, with 2,314 carers aged 70 and over currently supporting an adult with an intellectual disability.

BWD founder Tony Murray said there was insufficient transparency around how local authorities spend development levy income. 

Development levies are fees charged by councils on new property developments to fund public infrastructure. They often involve payments in lieu of specific obligations such social housing.

Some local authorities, including Dublin City Council, had not provided figures to BWD at the time of publication.

“In some county councils they have no data on how many people with a disability are on the housing list. So it's basically nobody's counting, but that €1.5bn doesn't seem to be accounted for in any single place,” Mr Murray told the Irish Examiner.

“It went into the black hole, and then it wasn't used for social housing.

“The data that we've shown illustrates that nobody's counting, nobody's planning.” 

BWD has called for the €1.5bn to be targeted towards increasing local authority stock for adults with intellectual disabilities.

It would take about 86 years to clear the current waiting list of adults with intellectual disabilities seeking social housing if homes continue to be delivered at the present rate, according to figures given in reply to a parliamentary question. The estimate assumes no additional applicants join the list.

According to BWD, just €65m, or 1.67% of the State's €3.9bn disability budget, was allocated to new residential developments. The group said that funding would provide for just 72 planned residential places and 80 emergency placements.

Mr Murray said accommodation for adults with intellectual disabilities was often being developed on a piecemeal basis, leaving residents and family carers isolated from services and support networks.

Concerns have also been raised by Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide about what he describes as a growing reliance on private providers for the care of adults with intellectual disabilities.

“They need 24-hour care," Mr Murray said.

Call for ring-fenced funding

"The kind of housing that they're proposing is just give them a house somewhere, and then Hiqa will come in and say 'No, that house isn't suitable because it has stairs or it hasn't got ensuite bathrooms.' Effectively, the council will say 'nobody told us we should be building houses specifically for people with ID that would pass Hiqa standards.'” 

A survey conducted by BWD of 1,179 carers of adults with intellectual disability showed that 78% of carers had no formal plan with an arm of the State when it came to plans for housing. Just 2% of respondents said they had a formal, written plan.

The report calls for the provision of multi-annual, ring-fenced funding towards carers of adults with intellectual disabilities in Budget 2027.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the €1.53bn figure was a combination of money collected by local authorities, but also money due. 

The spokesperson said the money raised from development levies encompassed spend on public infrastructure as well as social housing, and some of the €1.53bn may have already been committed to new projects.

The Department of Disability were contacted for comment.