Housing Ireland Conference 2024
Wednesday 6th March 2024 • Croke Park, Dublin
Organised by
Sponsored by
20+ expert speakers
5 informative sessions
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About
Housing Ireland Conference
A sustainable housing system for all
Now in its third year of implementation, sustainability permeates Housing for All’s four pathways. A sustainable housing system for all means having a housing system which is socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable.
Indeed, in publishing the latest update to the Housing for All action plan, the Government acknowledges that the realisation of its targets – across all housing types – necessitates the delivery of a sustainable housing system.
However, a widening viability gap in the residential construction sector must be also bridged. In 2024, there will be a major focus on improving the viability of residential construction, including through modern methods of construction and enhanced construction sector capacity.
In this context, the Housing Ireland 2024 conference will host a range of expert domestic and international speakers who will comprehensively explore the latest ambitions, challenges, and tangible opportunities for Ireland’s housing practitioners.
Key issues to be examined:
Replete with an expert panel of high-level speakers, both domestic and visiting, the conference will be comprehensive, examining themes which include:
- Housing for All implementation and progress
- Delivering homes on state lands
- The role of local authorities in the planning and provision of affordable homes
- European housing policy perspective
- Design for social and affordable housing
- Decarbonising the social housing sector
- Raising house building standards in Northern Ireland
- Ensuring a supply of sustainable and climate resilient housing
- Addressing vacancy and efficient use of existing housing stock
- Overcoming challenges to residential construction
- Bridging the viability gap
- Delivering a more developed, responsive, and appropriate housing system
- Report of The Housing Commission
- A referendum on a constitutional right to housing in Ireland
Confirmed speakers
Darragh O'Brien TD was appointed Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in June 2020. He is an elected TD for the constituency of Dublin-Fingal. Prior to his election to the 30th Dáil in 2007, Minister O’Brien worked mainly in Financial Services and was elected to Fingal County Council in 2004. He was elected to Seanad Éireann in 2011. He has held various positions within the Oireachtas including Vice-Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, Member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Law Reform, Leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad and Opposition Frontbench Spokesperson on Dublin, Foreign Affairs and Housing.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Partner
Beauchamps
Caroline Timmons is Acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. She has responsibility for the Housing Affordability, Inclusion and Homelessness Division in the Department. She has previously worked as a principal officer in the housing policy and planning divisions of the department. She is a barrister and prior to joining the Department, she practiced for a number of years at the Bar before joining the Attorney General’s Office as Advisory Counsel and then worked as legal advisor to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. She previously served on the board of the Land Development Agency and is currently a member of the board of the First Home DAC.
Acting Assistant Secretary
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Áine Stapleton is Head of Social Housing Delivery in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Áine joined the Department in December 2020. She is a career civil servant having previously served in senior management roles including the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. Áine is also a member of The Housing Agency’s board.
Assistant Secretary
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
John O'Connor John O’Connor is the Chair of The Housing Commission, John is widely considered to be one of the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the Irish housing sector. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of The Housing Agency. Previous roles include Chief Executive of the Affordable Homes Partnership, and Executive Manager of the Housing & Communities Department in Dublin City Council. He also worked in the construction industry before moving to local government. John has extensive experience in the management, development, provision and direct delivery of housing, particularly in the areas of social housing, affordable housing and regeneration projects.
Chair
The Housing Commission
Niall Cussen Niall is the Chief Executive and Planning Regulator at the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) established by Government in April 2019. The OPR’s functions are to oversee the effective delivery of planning services of Irelands 31 local authorities and An Bord Pleanála, including implementation of national and regional policies and to conduct research and public awareness programmes in relation to planning. Prior to his appointment Niall was Chief Planner at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government from July 2014 and he worked in the Department from January 2000 prior to that. Niall was responsible for leading the Department’s Forward Planning Section and its professional and multi-disciplinary planning team in the development of legislation and all Government policy relating to planning and related matters, including the National Planning Framework as part of Project Ireland 2040 alongside the National Development Plan. Prior to joining the Department in 2000, Niall had an extensive planning career working for local authorities in Clare, Meath and Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála. Niall holds qualifications in economics and geography, regional and urban planning and environmental engineering from Maynooth University, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin respectively and is both a member and a past President of the Irish Planning Institute.
Chief Executive and Planning Regulator
Office Of The Planning Regulator
Dara Turnbull is the Research Coordinator at Housing Europe, where he has worked since 2019. He is responsible for managing various research projects, working to improve the uptake of good practices by public, cooperative, and social housing providers in Europe. He also leads the work of Housing Europe on a number of EU-funded research projects, looking at areas as diverse as energy communities, the circular economy, and social engagement with residents. An economist by training, prior to joining Housing Europe, Dara worked for seven years in the banking sector in Ireland. He holds a Masters in Economics from the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Research Coordinator
Housing Europe
Declan Dunne Declan joined Respond as Chief Executive Officer in August 2016. Declan is an experienced general manager who worked initially building a business over many years and sold to an American multi-national. Declan’s previous role was Chief Executive Officer with Sophia Housing Association. He served as a non-executive Director of the Ballymun Regeneration Board for ten years, the largest urban regeneration project in Europe, where he chaired the Audit Committee. Declan was Chair of the Housing Alliance from 2019 to 2021. The Housing Alliance is a collaboration of six of Ireland’s largest Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and in this capacity he served as a member of the High Level Housing Delivery Group established by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, T.D. He previously chaired the Homeless Network of the major Homeless Agencies in Dublin. He served as a ministerial appointee Board member for two three year terms at the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB), a Statutory Agency which was established to promote school attendance and also chaired its Audit Committee. Declan is actively interested in housing, education, and family services and served on many boards and committees on these issues.
CEO
Respond
Pat Barry is Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) which he co-founded in 2010. He is an Architect with many years of experience in Ireland, Europe and South America, a Masters in Environmental design of buildings from University of Cardiff and is a qualified Passive House and DGNB consultant. The IGBC is an membership organisation of over 360 corporate members with a mission of transitioning Ireland construction sector to sustainability, through advocacy, education and innovation, a partner in Construct Innovate -Ireland’s construction technology centre. IGBC run a number of programmes including Home Performance Index the national certification for quality sustainable new homes and EPD Ireland a programme for Irish construction product manufacturers to transparently declare the environmental impact of their products.
CEO
Irish Green Building Council
Dr Magdalena Hajdukiewicz is a chartered engineer and Assistant Professor in Mechanical (Energy Systems) Engineering at University of Galway. Magdalena’s key research and educational interests lie in the areas of sustainability of the built environment, building performance modelling and monitoring, computational fluid dynamics simulation, smart and sustainable construction. Magdalena is Director of Construct Innovate (www.constructinnovate.ie), Ireland's national research centre for construction technology and innovation. Construct Innovate leverages the capabilities, facilities and expertise available across six partner institutions, i.e. University of Galway, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Dublin (UCD), University College Cork (UCC), Technological University (TU) Dublin and the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC), as well as providing access to a broader network of European universities and research clusters. The Centre aims to provide industry-led, independent, evidence-based research, and acts as a conduit for communication between academia, industry and policy makers.
Co-Director
ConstructInnovate
John Hannigan John Hannigan is Chief Executive Officer of Circle Voluntary Housing Association. Prior to this John was Managing Director of Sunbeam House Services (2010 to 2017) and Company Treasurer of Respond Housing Association (2004 to 2010) in Ireland and South Africa. John has worked at senior executive level within the Private Sector (KPMG, Grant Thornton and EY) and as Group Director and Company Secretary in the UK for large Registered Social Landlords (Accord and Prime Focus). With over 30 years’ experience in the housing sector, John holds an MBA and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing, a fellow of the Association of Certified Accountants and a chartered member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland. John is also a member of the Board of ICSH, Chair of the CIH Ireland, Chair of The Housing Alliance, a collaboration of six of Ireland’s largest AHBs, and a member of the CIH governing board and its finance audit and risk committee.
Chief Executive Officer
Circle VHA
and
Chair
The Housing Alliance
Enda McGuane Enda Mc Guane (MBS, FSCSI, FRICS) is a former army officer and highly experienced senior manager and property professional with over 25 years’ experience across both public and private sectors. He is the Head of Asset Management for the Land Development Agency (LDA) with direct responsibility for the Cost Rental portfolio as well as the strategic management of LDA’s expanding portfolio of land, sites, and estates. He is currently the President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. Enda is a dual status Chartered Surveyor practicing in the areas of Planning & Development and Property & Facilities Management, as well as a RICS, registered Red Book valuer. He is a past member of the Board of Galway Chamber as well as past a member of Galway Co Co’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee and the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Infrastructure and Planning Taskforce. In addition, Enda has also been a member of Property Industry Ireland’s Market Supply and Demand Committee as well as the CIF’s Western and Midlands Infrastructure Forum. He is a former board member of COPE Homeless services (Tier 2) and Co-Operative Housing Ireland (Tier 1) where he chaired the property and development committee, respectively.
President
Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland
Ali Grehan Ali Grehan has been the Dublin City Architect since 2008. In this role she leads a multi-disciplinary team responsible for developing a broad urban design agenda including delivery of projects in relation to housing, public realm, community and cultural infrastructure. Her career has spanned private practice in Dublin, London and Bilbao, and in the Public Sector; where her particular focus has been on large-scale urban regeneration. Prior to becoming City Architect, Ali worked with Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, Fingal County Council and with the RPA (now TII) delivering Dublin’s first LUAS Light Rail system. She has an MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society from Dublin City University and is Chair of the Irish Green Building Council.
City Architect
Dublin City Council
David Duffy
Director of Property Industry Ireland
Ibec
Mary Conway Mary Conway is Chairperson at Irish Property Owners Association. Mary is a qualified Nurse and Midwife and with a Master’s Degree in Nursing (Clinical Practice) from UCD. She has been a residential landlord for 28 years with experience in student lets, houses of multiple occupancy, apartment letting, and Airbnb. She was the first female committee member of the Irish Property Owners Association. In addition to property management, lettings and sales of property Mary is Irelands first Senior Move manager and Certified Living in Place Professional. She supports older persons and their families who are going to transition to a new living space or rethink their current living arrangements.
Chairperson
Irish Property Owners Association
Owen Reidy Owen Reidy was appointed General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in October 2022. Before taking up this role he was the Assistant General Secretary with responsibility for Northern Ireland since 2016. A union official with over 24 years full-time experience in the Irish trade union movement he started his union career as an official with SIPTU in Mayo in 1998. During his 18 years in SIPTU, he represented and organised workers across the Republic of Ireland in the aviation, state and related agency, finance, contract cleaning and security services sectors. From 2013-16 he was a member of the SIPTU management team leading one of the Union's 5 Divisions, the Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction (TEAC) Division. He led several significant industrial disputes during that period including the Greyhound lockout, the Luas dispute and disputes in the CIE transport group. He is a father of 2 and from Donegal.
General Secretary
Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
Sinéad Gibney Chief Commissioner Sinéad Gibney leads the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission having been appointed by President Michael D. Higgins in July 2020. Sinéad was the inaugural Director of the Commission, bringing together the former legacy bodies in the merger period and building up the organisation in terms of teams, facilities, planning and structure. Prior to this she built and led Google Ireland’s corporate social responsibility function, Social Action. Sinéad has also worked in providing training, consultancy and media production to a range of organisations in the civil society and public sectors. Sinéad is a lifelong learner with an undergraduate degree in History from University of Ulster and four postgraduate qualifications in the topics of Information Technology & Education (MSc), Cyberpsychology, Equality Studies (MSc) and Human Rights Law from Trinity College Dublin, IADT Dun Laoghaire, UCD and the Law Society respectively. Sinéad is a former chair of the board of One Family and has served on a number of other boards: Digital Charity Lab, Victims’ Rights Alliance, Responsible Research & Innovation industry advisory group.
Chief Commissioner
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
Conference programme
08:30
Registration and coffee
09:00
Chair's welcome and introduction
Chair: Fidelma McManus, Partner and Head of Housing, Beauchamps
09:05
CONFERENCE PLENARY: DELIVERING HOUSING FOR ALL
MINISTERIAL ADDRESS AND Q&A
Darragh O’Brien TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Delivering social and affordable homes on state-owned land
Senior representative, Land Development Agency
Delivering on housing in Ireland: A European policy perspective
Dara Turnbull, Research Coordinator, Housing Europe
Question & answer session / Panel discussion
10:45
Morning break
11:15
Design for social and affordable housing
Senior representatives, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Decarbonising the social housing sector
John Hannigan, Chief Executive, Circle VHA and Chair, The Housing Alliance
Raising house building standards in Northern Ireland
Pádraig Venney, Regional Director, National House Building Council (NHBC)
Question & answer session / Panel discussion
12:15
DISCUSSION PANEL: Ensuring a supply of sustainable and climate resilient housing
Chair: Fidelma McManus, Partner and Head of Housing, Beauchamps
Pat Barry, CEO, Irish Green Building Council
Magdalena Hajdukiewicz, Co-Director, ConstructInnovate
Sarah-Jane Pisciotti, Innovation and Design Director, John Sisk & Son (Sisk Living)
Claire McManus, Director, JFOC Architects and Spokesperson on Housing, RIAI
13:15
Lunch break
14:00
DISCUSSION PANEL: Overcoming challenges to residential construction
Chair: Áine Stapleton, Assistant Secretary, Social Housing Delivery, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Caroline Timmons, Assistant Secretary, Housing Affordability, Inclusion and Homelessness, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Niall Cussen, Chief Executive and Planning Regulator, Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR)
Enda McGuane, President, Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland
Ali Grehan, City Architect, Dublin City Council
Declan Dunne, CEO, Respond
15:10
Coffee break
15:30
DISCUSSION PANEL: Delivering a more developed, responsive, and appropriate housing system
Chair: Fidelma McManus, Partner and Head of Housing, Beauchamps
Senior representative, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
John O’Connor, Chair, The Housing Commission
Owen Reidy, General Secretary, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
David Duffy, Director, Property Industry Ireland, Ibec
Mary Conway, Chairperson, Irish Property Owners Association
Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
16:30
Chairs' concluding remarks and Conference close
Who should attend
Who should attend?
The conference will attract stakeholders engaged in all aspects of housing policy, funding, delivery, and management, including senior managers in the public, private, and third sectors in Ireland.
It will be of particular interest to:
- Professionals in housing policy and delivery
- Government departments and agencies
- Those providing social welfare advice
- Approved housing bodies
- Policy / public affairs advisors
- The construction industry
- Project funders
- Legal advisors
- Housing and planning consultants
- The community and voluntary sector / NGOs
- Local elected representatives
Days until Housing Ireland Conference 2024
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Sponsorship and exhibition
There are a small number of opportunities to get involved with the Housing Ireland conference 2024 as a sponsor or exhibitor. Now in its ninth year, Housing Ireland has established itself as a significant event in the Irish housing sector’s calendar and is attended annually by key sectoral stakeholders.
Contact Ciarán Galway on +353 (0)1 661 3755 or email ciaran.galway@eolasmagazine.ie for further information on how your organisation can be involved with the conference.
Reserve your place
Delegate rate for AHBs and voluntary sector
Standard delegate rate
eolas Magazine
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Lower Fitzwilliam Street
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