Donegal County Council has been urged to fight more for funding to buy second-hand homes for social housing.
Earlier this year, Donegal was allocated one of the lowest funding figures for social housing second-hand acquisitions, when €2million was given to Donegal out of a total €325 million budget by the Department for Housing.
100% Redress Councillor Tomás Seán Devine said more should be done to acquire vacant houses in Letterkenny.
“I have seen loads of houses, for sale for less than €200,000, that were built 40/50 years ago and wouldn’t have any defective blocks,” Cllr Devine said.
Cllr Devine said he believes that “there doesn’t seem to be a fight to get more money sent to Donegal.”
He added: “We need to be doing more, it’s shocking when you know there are young people sleeping in boarded up places on Lower Main Street in Letterkenny, in places living with rats. This is the type of stuff that is happening.”
Cllr Devine said he was “not a fan” of approved housing bodies and asked that the council focus on buying its own stock of housing.
“There is a lot of private developments getting built in Letterkenny and surely someone could sit down with these people and buy these houses,” Cllr Devine said.
Speaking on behalf of the council today, Senior Engineer John Gallagher said that the budget for housing acquisition is “an issue” that the executive has raised with the department, and will raise it again.
As of June 2025, there are 1,321 applicants on the social housing waiting list in the Letterkenny area alone.
There are 511 social housing units currently under construction in Donegal, a special meeting on housing heard this morning.
The larger developments include more than 100 homes at Killylastin in Letterkenny, 54 in Buncrana and 43 in Dungloe.
The units are being developed through various delivery types, including in-house, in-house design and build, turnkey, and collaborations with Approved Housing Bodies.
County councillors were informed that there are 108 units in progress through turnkey acquisition.
Two projects, Corrán an Lin Convoy (Phase 1) and Anagaire, are complete, while the remaining five, including Corrán an Lin (Phase 2), Drumrooske West, Donegal Road, Windyhall, and Machaire Chlochair, are currently on site with anticipated completion dates ranging from November 2025 to June 2026.
A further 108 units are at the tendering stage across Lifford Common, Milford (Tamney), St Johnston and Stranorlar.
Developments at Barrack Hill in Carndonagh, Malin, and Gleneely, comprising 40 units in total, are all progressing through the construction stage
A further 100 units are in the pipeline at design stage at Ballyhasky in Newtowncunningham, Ard Na Glaise (Phase 2) in Kilmacrennan, Oldtown in Letterkenny, Rossgarrow in Milford, and Doirí Beaga.
Letterkenny’s flagship social housing projects are also progressing, councillors were told.
Ballymacool (170 units) has received Stage 1 Department approval and is preparing a Stage 2 submission to the Department of Housing and Part 8 planning documentation for July 2025. Housing Capital met with Donegal Centre for Independent Living early in May 2025, and proposals for a group home have been sent to HSE for comment
Meanwhile, a letter of intent has been issued to the High Road (150 units) design team with a pre-appointment meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 16th July 2025.
During discussions on social housing, the council heard widespread calls for more units in areas including Manorcunningham, Carrick, Carrigart, Ramelton, Kerrykeel and Ballyshannon.
Independent Councillor Martin Scanlon said there is a lack of delivery in Donegal’s small towns and villages, commenting that more housing is needed for small rural shops, schools and clinics to survive.
Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry McMonagle commented that it “seems to be taking an awful lot of time” to get social housing units built in Donegal, and asked about the progress of nine units at Windyhall.
After the completion of 12 houses at Ard Na Greine in Letterkenny, Cllr McMonagle called on the council to do more to negotiate a price for purchasing the homes and getting them into use as soon as possible.
“It’s a bit remiss of us as a council not to enter meaningful discussions with the developer not to acquire those houses,” he said of the Ard na Greine development.
Chief Executive of Donegal County Council, John McLaughlin said that with 240 houses already finished in Donegal, there are now more than 750 houses being delivered by the council under the Housing for All programme.
The council is working towards a government-set target of 879 units.
“We are tracking well, even though we need a lot more, I accept that too,” Mr McLaughlin said.
