Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I accept the grouping of amendments covers a range of areas. I will try to address some of the issues raised.

Deputy Catherine Murphy inquired about how the European Investment Bank could assist and fund social housing. Some approved housing bodies already have the structures and capacity in place. They have proven they can raise funds via the European Investment Bank through the Housing Finance Agency. We have examples of that where some projects in this country have been funded for the first time this year through the European Investment Bank. It is our ambition to see many more follow that. Deputy Murphy is correct in one regard, namely, that we need some level of regulation of the approved housing bodies in order that they can prove they have the structure and capacity to raise funds in this way. In order to address the matter, the Government intends to introduce an approved housing body regulation Bill in the autumn. That will provide an opportunity to bring the stakeholders together and to hear all their views and to advance the cause and need for housing bodies in order that they can access funding to deliver more houses.

If I understood him correctly, Deputy Coonan inquired about exempting retirement housing schemes from Part V and other such schemes. It is not the intention at the moment to exempt them. That is not being considered at this stage. I could give the Deputy some more information on the plan in that regard if he so wishes.

On the concerns expressed about leasing and rental agreements, the intention is that leasing and rental agreements would give options to local authorities in negotiating Part V agreements. They offer a number of advantages which I will try to spell out for the committee. The overarching policy objectives set out in the Social Housing Strategy 2020 place a considerable emphasis on a tenure mix and the use of the private rental sector as a means of meeting the social housing needs of society. I have already explained that there is no one solution to the demand that exists. The private sector has a strong role to play in meeting the urgent demand we face at the moment. Therefore, the strategy envisages a stronger partnership approach between local authorities, approved housing bodies and the private sector, which the concept of long-term leasing supports. Furthermore, the strategy envisages a front-loading of capital investment in the early stages of implementation with a greater shift to current funding over the longer term. The intention is essentially to front-load funding into the early delivery of housing.

Local authorities do require flexible options for the delivery of social housing and to be able to respond to the local need and local context. This flexibility must be balanced with the need to ensure that as many permanent social housing units as possible are achieved with the financial resources that are available. To reassure Deputies, in order to achieve such a balance, it is my intention to issue a ministerial policy directive under section 29 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 directing local authorities to the effect that where capital funding is available they should enter Part V agreements for the acquisition of social housing units, as the Deputy stated, rather than entering into a leasing arrangement. Furthermore, where leases are being agreed they should be for a specified minimum period. That will ensure the potential of Part V to deliver completed social housing units into the ownership and social housing stock of local authorities is maximised. I hope Deputies will understand the intent of having flexibility for local authorities to negotiate in accordance with the resources available to them. The Deputy can rest assured that the directive we will issue will prioritise the acquisition of such units over leasing, but we must have a realistic approach and that where we can get more units in addition to direct acquisition we will use the leasing and long-term rental process to achieve those extra units. Essentially, we are not ruling out any mechanism that is available to us to secure more units. That should be welcomed in general.

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett's contribution on amendment No. 28 and Part V, in terms of profit, we will not accept the amendment for the following reasons. It is accepted that there has been much difficulty with Part V agreements in the past. Deputies have already spoken about the complexity of the legislation, which has been reflected in the number of court actions taken in the past. We need to learn from that. The proposed amendments to Part V are an opportunity to provide some clarity in the operation of the legislation and could ultimately save millions of euro while reducing time spent on negotiations, the engagement of professionals such as quantity surveyors and legal advisers in court proceedings. We believe that by bringing certainty and streamlining the process, as proposed, we will eradicate much of the lost revenues and costs associated with difficult Part V negotiations in the past.

Section 33(1)(c) substitutes section 96(3)(d) of the principal Act and provides that where houses are to be transferred as part of an agreement, the price of the houses shall be calculated on the basis of the cost of the land and the costs which would be incurred by a planning authority had it retained an independent builder to undertake the work on its behalf.

The price an independent builder would command in the marketplace would ordinarily include provision for profits. Section 33(1)(c) should bring clarity on the costs to be considered as a basis for calculating the price of housing units to be transferred under Part V. The amendment takes account of relevant court judgments and practical difficulties reported in the operation of Part V. The inclusion of "profit" on these costs is consistent with the existing provision, and there is no change in the policy proposed. Court judgments do not appear to point to any deficiencies in this regard.