Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all those who contributed to the debate which has been wide-ranging across the political spectrum. Deputy Derek Nolan described it as a perfect storm. We are in a position where we have the overhang of the collapse of the economy where the construction industry is not meeting the demand for public and private housing. Our capital budget was slashed and we could do nothing for about for three years because we were signed up to it, but we have come out of that period now and I have announced a mainstream capital construction programme which I intend to ramp up as soon as I get the money to do so.

I welcome the support of colleagues across the political spectrum. I welcome particularly the support of my Labour Party colleagues. Our sub-committee on housing, of which Deputy Ann Phelan is a member, produced a report which was discussed at our parliamentary party meeting yesterday. We do want to construct more housing. In terms of what Deputy Joe Higgins has said, I am not a neoliberal and never will be and I did not agree with taking on the debts of the banks. I hope the Deputy is not suggesting that as a nation we also take on the debts of the developers, because I certainly would not support that idea, if that is what he means by nationalising construction. The Government will publish a construction policy programme within the next couple of weeks. We have to get construction under way again.

Given that my time is short, I wish to focus particularly on the issue of social housing. First, there is the issue of getting construction under way again.

A serious problem has arisen because no social housing was provided during the boom and waiting lists continued to grow. I intend to knock on every door to get funding to recommence construction of social housing. I also do not want to see lying vacant in this State any house that can be used as a home. To this end, the provision of €15 million to address the voids programme will be announced shortly. I intend to meet the directors of service for housing to ensure no house is left vacant, no perfectly good kitchen and so on is thrown out and the best practice of some local authorities, in terms of turning around vacant houses as soon as possible, is applied across all local authorities.

Contrary to what Deputy Troy had to say, 30% of the 2,000 units have been transferred from NAMA. A letter received today from NAMA will speed up that process. We need to bring those NAMA units into use. As regards the unfinished estates, funding to bring more of these back into use, although most are located in the wrong places, will be announced shortly. On the voluntary housing bodies, on which people have differing views, the State will provide only 25% of the funding under the capital advance leasing facility, CALF, scheme. The voluntary housing bodies will have to get the remainder of the funding elsewhere.

Many interesting and useful suggestions were made, one of which was that the credit unions be utilised as a source of funding in terms of construction. That is a positive suggestion. With regard to the European Investment Bank, a request has been made to it for €100 million to bring 2,000 flats back into use, 1,500 of which are located in Dublin. We hope a decision in this regard will be made by mid-2014. With regard to the local authority loans scheme, I have asked that the decision in this regard be reviewed. I suspect we have gone conservative in the wrong way. There are many non-performing local authority loans but these are in respect of houses that are in negative equity. I am of the view that there are people on low incomes who should qualify for local authority loans to purchases houses. I will have this matter reviewed.

A number of specific proposals from across the board warrant consideration, including the allocation of houses to tenants and having tenants refurbish them rather than waiting until they have been refurbished to allocate them. It was also suggested that the financial contribution scheme be restored and the rural resettlement scheme be revived. The issue of private rent control was raised by a number of members. I am in favour of taking another look at this and have said so publicly. Another suggestion that warrants examination is that a database of rogue developers be developed.

A couple of specific points were made in relation to refuges, in particular the Dundalk refuge mentioned by Deputy Fitzpatrick. I will examine the matter. Funding in the homelessness area was not cut this year. The amount provided in this regard this year for each of the regions is the same as that provided last year. As such, the north east should have received the same level of funding from Government. I will follow up on Deputy Fitzpatrick's statement that funding for the Dundalk refuge has been cut. I do not want to see any refuge closing, including the COPE refuge mentioned by Deputy Nolan.

A number of other issues were raised which will be examined. I am determined that we will address this crisis. I acknowledge there is a serious problem in the social housing area which has been built up over the years. It is one we must try to address with limited public funding. Consideration is also being given to what can be done off balance sheet. We are still required to meet our fiscal targets regardless of whether we like it and so we must operate within that constraint. As I stated, I want every house that can be lived in as a home to be utilised. I want to ensure there is proper control within the private rented sector, which is the purpose of the Private Residential Tenancies Board. There are other issues with regard to private tenants that must be addressed.

The housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme, has been rolled out in my constituency and will be rolled out in six other local authority areas this year and, eventually, across the board. It will replace the long-term rent supplement and eliminate some of the poverty traps. I hope it will also flush out landlords who are demanding top-ups, which is an issue raised by a number of Members. This scheme will be gradually rolled out across the board and will, I believe, be an improvement for people in that situation.

This is not an area on which I have a monopoly of wisdom, although like other members of this House who were councillors prior to becoming Deputies, including Deputy Wallace, who has just recounted his hands-on experience, I have a great deal of experience in this area. We must use all the methods available to us to ensure every family has a home, which, as rightly said by many speakers, is their right. Houses should not be items of speculation for developers, builders or anyone else. Houses are for families to live in. We must ensure every available house is an appropriate home for a family and that we get the construction of private and social and affordable housing going again. Currently, not enough houses are being constructed to meet ongoing demand. We need to address this. This is the reason the Government is addressing construction and will publish a policy in relation to access to finance for construction, access to finance for people who want to purchase a home and access to public money that can be used for the construction of social houses. We will also have to find other ways of raising money for the construction of houses in order that we can address this issue which is of serious concern to everyone in this Chamber.

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