Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Anyway, I am delighted to speak in this debate. I was anxious to correct some mistakes made by Deputy Troy.

We are here to discuss social housing and homelessness. The issue is that there is a housing crisis across the board. It is a crisis for people who have put money by to get a mortgage because they cannot get a house. No houses are being built at present in the State. When one considers the number of houses that have been built in the last number of years one can see there has been a total collapse of the construction industry. As a result, pressure is being put on the rental market, and that is also putting pressure on people who are on social welfare and seeking rent allowance because they cannot compete with the people who are in employment and seeking a mortgage to buy their own house. It is not just a social housing crisis or a homelessness crisis but a national housing crisis across all sectors. It therefore requires a holistic rather than a sectoral approach within the housing sector. It is important that we tackle this with that approach so we can try to find solutions across the board.

From my perspective, and I have consistently said this in the House, Part V has been the downfall of the housing market in this country. I voted against it in Kildare County Council and have strong views on it. It allowed for the building of houses but did not create communities, and I have said as much to the Minister previously. It is important that we build communities and that people have a sense of ownership of the area in which they are living. Part V destroyed that. In 1997 and 1998 we worked on a development plan for Kildare. We were seeking a 20% contribution from people who were asking for lands to be zoned. The 20% was a land contribution. The council could then decide what to do with that contribution, whether to build houses or allocate it for recreational facilities, sports fields or a school. These are the things that build communities. Instead, Part V came into operation and it built houses. It was the be-all and end-all solution for people on social welfare and people who could not get accommodation. When housing construction collapsed, no houses were being built. As a consequence, the implications of Part V were that the local authorities were not getting any houses to house people. As I said earlier, we must take a holistic view of this.

I wish to make a few suggestions to the Minister. An 80% windfall tax was introduced under the NAMA legislation. We must take a serious look at that and change it. As regards land prices, approximately two years ago I saw an area of land for sale that was zoned for development. The advertisement stated that it was zoned land with the potential to be zoned agricultural. When one sees that one can appreciate the collapse in the price of zoned land. An 80% windfall tax will discourage people in certain areas from having agricultural land changed to zoned land. That is something we should consider.

We must also examine the Supreme Court judgment in the McHugh case. Mr. McHugh is from my area in Naas, County Kildare. He was responsible for the fact that Kildare County Council could no longer continue its practice of acquiring land through the 20% contribution.

Another matter which I have mentioned previously to the Minister is having shovel-ready projects in counties. The Minister should write to county councils and ask them to be more progressive on that. Instead of waiting for the money to be allocated and then starting work on a project, the Minister should let them have most of the planning process carried out beforehand so that as soon as the money is allocated they can start building. I would encourage local authorities to do that.

Finally, local authorities say there is only a small number of houses within their areas that are not available for rent because they must be renewed. There is probably more than that. We must have a stronger renewal policy so we can get these houses back into use.

There are 6,104 people on the housing list in Kildare as of this morning. We are in a crisis but it is a holistic crisis rather than a sectoral one. If we take a holistic approach, we will find a solution to it.

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