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

I also convey the apologies of the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, to the select sub-committee. Unfortunately, he is indisposed and cannot be present. In his absence he has asked me to make some general comments on the Department's vote for 2013 before turning to housing expenditure, which accounts for almost 50% of the Revised Estimate. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, will then address the next largest programme - water services.

The Vote for the Department for 2013 amounts to €1.208 billion. This is divided into €726 million in capital spending and €482 million in current spending. There is, in addition, provision for a capital carryover of some €43 million. This will be invested as follows: housing, €22 million; landfill remediation, €10 million; fire services, €2 million; and the Leader programme, €9 million. Furthermore, an extra €10 million will be made available for energy efficiency measures in the social housing sector as part of the additional investment in infrastructure and jobs announced by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, recently. The total funding of over €1.2 billion will be used to make maximum progress across the range of departmental programmes. While the Department met and exceeded specific savings targets for 2012 - more such savings are planned - it must be made clear that the story is not at all one of unremitting doom and gloom, which I am sure members will be pleased to hear. In overall terms, the provision in the 2013 Vote - when the capital carryover is included - is €1.25 billion which is a very substantial amount and close to the outturn in 2012. Within the 2013 provision there are a number of areas which show increased resourcing. They include housing current funding - primarily for leasing and the rental accommodation scheme; water services capital investment; landfill remediation; fire services capital; the JobStart initiative in local authorities for the long-term unemployed; and the Leader and PEACE programmes.

I will now deal with some specific matters. To assist in resourcing the local government sector, the local government fund will continue to receive the proceeds of motor taxation - amounting to an estimated €1.1 billion - in 2013. The general purpose grant payment from the fund to local authorities will amount to €640 million this year, an increase of some €3 million on the figure for 2012. The household charge contribution to the fund will end in 2013 and be replaced by the new local property tax. To date, the charge has raised in excess of €136 million for the local government sector. Compliance is now at the level of 80%. The charge has been a valuable pathfinder in the context of the local property tax.

On the community side of the Revised Estimate, the Leader programme - comprising axes 3 and 4 of the rural development programme - plays a significant role in addressing employment and quality of life issues in rural areas. The 2013 provision for the Leader programme is €105 million, comprising €96 million in this year's allocation and €9 million carried over from 2012. It is vital that best value is achieved from every last euro available under the current Leader programme in order that we might maximise sustainable employment opportunities in rural areas and support for business creation and development.

The environment and waste management programme provides for expenditure of €29 million, largely to finance the important work of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. The environment fund, financed from the landfill and plastic bag levies, will provide a further €60 million to be directed towards key priority areas such as environmental enforcement, waste prevention, landfill remediation and recycling.

I will now deal with matters within my own area of responsibility. The necessity to reduce public expenditure to sustainable levels is impacting on all public services, including the housing programme. However, as outlined in the Government's housing policy statement, the focus will remain on meeting the most acute needs, that is, the housing support needs of those unable to provide for their accommodation from their own resources. Therefore, in 2013 I have continued to focus on areas where there is scope to maintain output through more flexible approaches and to continue to direct the available resources towards those who most require assistance from the State. In terms of the delivery of social housing, the current economic conditions and the constraints on the availability of public finances have accelerated the restructuring of the housing programme.

In 2013 the social housing capital allocation has been reduced to €65 million and this will have inevitable consequences for the delivery of permanent new social housing. Some 714 units of accommodation were delivered under the local authority programme in 2012 and, with the limited funding available, I expect that a further 300 new units will be delivered in 2013. However, the delivery of social housing this year will also be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and leasing. In the context of rising need, the priority must be to maximise delivery of social housing to cater for the greatest level of need at good value. With the reduction in capital funding, current funding for leasing and the RAS is, therefore, central to maintaining levels of output in order to meet the increasing need for social housing. In that context, the amount of current investment set aside for both leasing and the RAS in 2013 is €180 million. Some 1,259 new leased units were delivered in 2012 and this brought the total number of leasing units in operation to over 3,700 at the end of 2012. The funding allocated to leasing in 2013 will, in addition to covering the cost of these existing units, also provide some 1,385 new leased units this year. The €150 million allocated to the RAS in 2013 is to cover the cost of all existing rent supplement households transferred to the scheme previous to this year - some 43,210 transfers by end 2012 - and the provision of 4,000 new rent supplement transfers in 2013.

The capital assistance scheme, CAS, is the main source of new housing provision for the most vulnerable, disadvantaged households and those with specific needs. Funding of €58 million was provided for the CAS in 2012, with some 454 units of accommodation acquired or built. The 2013 allocation for the CAS is €40 million and it is anticipated that this funding will deliver 300 new units of accommodation. A further €15 million has been set aside for the capital advance leasing facility to provide a capital injection for projects involving approved housing bodies, AHBs, drawing down loan finance.

The voluntary and co-operative housing sector will play an increasingly prominent role in the delivery of social housing in the coming years. Key to that increased involvement, particularly in terms of the provision of permanent new social housing units through alternative funding models, is the need for more structured regulation of the sector. I will, therefore, be launching a voluntary regulatory code in the coming weeks as an interim measure. In the longer term statutory regulation supported by an autonomous and adequately resourced regulator will be needed to provide an environment within which AHBs can attract sizable external investment.

I take the opportunity to reiterate the Government's commitment to progressing regeneration projects at a number of locations throughout the country. The ongoing importance of the national regeneration programme cannot be underestimated, not just from a social policy perspective but also in terms of the job creation and economic renewal delivered as part of any regeneration programme. Notwithstanding the constraints on capital expenditure across the housing programme, the national regeneration programme will continue to be supported to the fullest extent possible. The Government remains resolutely committed to tackling the root causes of disadvantage in many of our large social housing estates and flat complexes.

I am determined that there will be no loss of momentum in 2013 in progressing regeneration projects in Dublin city and the other priority projects in Limerick and Cork cities and a number of regional towns around the country. Recently, I announced allocations of €80 million for regeneration projects nationally in 2013. In these challenging times, I am pleased to be in a position to provide funding for these important projects.

The suite of housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities effectively delivers across a number of priority areas. Demand under the schemes continues to remain high, with more than 10,000 households benefiting in 2012 through funding of €53.4 million. The Exchequer funding available in 2013 is €35 million, which represents a cut of almost 35% on the 2012 outturn. In order to continue supporting independent living arrangements and to ensure that the maximum number of households continue to be supported by these grant schemes, I am reviewing the structure of the schemes. This review will seek to achieve more with the decreasing budget. The priority is to spread the benefits as widely as possible and to ensure fairness and value for money in the operation of the grant schemes. It is intended that the new grant structures will apply from 2014 onwards.

My Department's budget in 2013 for the operation of homeless accommodation and related services is €45 million, representing a small decrease on the 2012 outturn of €46.5 million. When taken together with the funding provided from housing authorities' own resources, this brings the total available funding to approximately €50 million. The maintenance of funding at approximately or in excess of €50 million annually in the past five years is especially significant in the context of the difficult budgetary situation within which the Department has been operating.

The homelessness policy statement was published last February and advocates a housing-led approach with a target of ending long-term homelessness by the end of 2016. A set of indicators will be used to demonstrate the dynamics of homelessness as it is addressed.

The allocation of resources within the overall housing Estimate for 2013 and the wider Vote reflects the difficult state of the public finances generally. However, I will conclude by confirming that the Government is committed to developing other funding mechanisms that will increase the supply of permanent new social housing. Such mechanisms will include options to purchase, build to lease, the sourcing of loan finance by approved housing bodies for construction and acquisition. I will also seek to ensure that there is maximum delivery of properties available from NAMA for social housing purposes.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, will complement my remarks as regards the water services programme. We will then deal with the matters that members wish to raise.