463. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the funding that is available to Tipperary County Council for Traveller-specific accommodation; the funding drawn down by Tipperary County Council for Traveller-specific accommodation for the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48931/26]

The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 provides that the role of my Department is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist local authorities in providing accommodation for Travellers, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding.

The Act provides that housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) in their areas.

Since 2020, new arrangements are in place for the disbursement of funding whereby it is open to all local authorities to apply for and draw down funds at any time throughout the year and this is actively encouraged by my Department. The Traveller-specific accommodation budget has been fully drawn down by local authorities in the five-year period 2020-2025, amounting to over €160 million, including €125 million in capital expenditure and €37.9 million in current expenditure, supporting the provision of new and refurbished halting sites and group housing schemes, salaries of social workers and related grades, and the maintenance of halting sites.

Traveller-specific accommodation is focused primarily on the provision of group housing, halting sites, the provision of mobiles and caravans through emergency replacement and the Caravan Loan Scheme, and also includes the acquisition of properties.

The drawdown for Tipperary County Council for Traveller-specific accommodation for the past five years, is set out in the attached table.