Minister says €285m modular home rapid build spend 'will take five years to deliver significant savings '
Gordon Deegan
The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan TD stated that the estimated €285.3 million spend on modular homes for Ukrainians in the Rapid Build programme “will take just five years to deliver significant savings to the State”.
In a written Dáil response on the issue, Minister O’Callaghan said that works are now nearing completion at the final site of the Rapid Build programme, in Haywood, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
He said: “This will bring the final output of the programme to 654 homes, with the capacity to accommodate 2,640 people fleeing the war in Ukraine."
He said that the first residents at Haywood are expected to take up occupation early next month.
A report last year by the State's spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General found that the cost of building rapid-build modular homes for Ukrainians had more than doubled.
It reported that the initial projected cost was an estimated €200,000 per residential unit in June 2022 and this has increased to an average projected cost per unit of around €436,000
In his written Dáil response to Michael Murphy, Minister O’Callaghan said that the estimated €436,000 unit cost includes the cost of the physical units, inclusive of supply, delivery and provision of loose electrical and household items.
He said that the €436,000 per unit cost also includes average site development and utility connection costs which amount to approximately €271,000 per unit.
Minister O’Callaghan told the Tipperary South TD: “While the cost of the Programme has been significant, the cost comparison of rapid build homes to house 2,640 people when compared with providing commercial accommodation for the same number are favourable, and it is estimated that it will take just five years to deliver significant savings to the State."
He said: “In addition, as the units have a 60-year lifespan, their future use is central to the Programme. Each of the sites has been developed to be compliant with building regulations and the units are of sufficient size to allow for alternative housing use.
“In addition, each site has roads, footpaths, street lighting and community facilities including a play area and green spaces, in line with Local Authority planning guidance. These design considerations at the outset ensure that the Rapid Build units have the potential for future use commensurate with their significant lifespan."
He said that “the costs of the Rapid Build Programme have developed in real time, with increases reflecting challenges that have presented in the urgency of the project itself, and the wider economic and supply chain environment.
"In addition, many of the sites required significant remedial work to make them ready for housing development or were smaller than initially envisaged and therefore didn’t deliver anticipated economies of scale."
Minister O’Callaghan said that while it is estimated that the final project cost will be in the region of €285.3 million "definitive costs cannot be provided at this time as works are ongoing".