Modular home costs a 'bonfire of taxpayer money' - Aontú

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has described the 120% increase in projected costs of modular homes as "another bonfire of taxpayers money".

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) yesterday highlighted delays in delivery and significant project cost overruns in the Government's rapid build housing programme.

The initial projected cost was an estimated €200,000 per residential unit in June 2022.

But this has increased to an average projected cost per unit of around €436,000 by June 2024.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Tóibín said it is now cheaper to build a house in the greater Dublin area than it is to build a modular home in Laois.

The Meath West TD said modular homes are on sale for around €100,000 but these homes cost nearly €500,000.

The Government also said it would take eight months to build these homes but it has taken nearly three years, he added.

He said there must be a responsibility to mind the public purse and be held accountable, warning otherwise it will be reflected at the ballot box in the coming months.

Meanwhile a member of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee has said the annual report from the C&AG will be interrogated.

Paul McAuliffe said the system of public accountability is working because there is a mechanism for ensuring accountability.

He said the homes were built far more quickly than a traditional housing project.

Mr McAuliffe said the number of homes being built all across the country needs to be increased with the use of new technologies.

The Fianna Fáil TD said it was naive to say a modular home could be found and put into the ground for €100,000.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) developed proposals for a pilot "proof of concept" programme which was approved by Government in June 2022 which envisaged the delivery of 500 modular units, to accommodate 2,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection, by February 2023.

The original plan was to develop 500 units for 2,000 people at a cost of €100m by February 2023, this was revised three times to a new plan in June 2024 to develop 654 units for 2,640 people at a cost of €285m to be completed in April 2025.

The report said the pilot proof of concept proposal prepared by OPW in May 2022 cautioned that the modular homes programme should only be progressed if sufficient suitable sites were immediately available and signalled that in the absence of suitable sites, the programme was not viable.

"Challenges were experienced in identifying suitable sites for the modular units, and this delayed the delivery of the accommodation," it stated.

"By January 2023, the OPW had considered over 70 sites, of which around threequarters were found to be unsuitable for a variety of reasons," it stated.

"The final site required for the programme was only confirmed in March 2024. The programme would have benefited from sites of a higher standard being identified and made available to the OPW earlier in the process," it added.