Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have many questions but I will distil them into the time we have. The first question is why it is taking so long to produce housing. Mr. Dick Brady stated it would normally take two and a half years for a development to come about. Why does it take that long if the council owns the land? Mr. Brady referred to a period of 22 weeks for modular houses to be brought about. I dispute that it should take that long for housing developments to come about and I want to hear what are the obstacles. While I am not doubting what Mr. Brady is saying, we need to hear what the obstacles are, because that is the purpose of this committee.

An estate, Hollywoodrath, in Tyrellstown, is being built half a mile from my home. The housing started in September and was finished in December - it was built in three months because it was timber-framed housing and the rest of the work was just put up. It is now being advertised for sale.

If they can build it so quickly, why can permanent homes not be built as quickly?

Why are the targets for local authorities so low? I recently met the housing director for Fingal County Council and the manager assured us it was reaching its targets. The fact that it is reaching its targets when we have a homelessness epidemic in parts of Fingal scares me.

It was stated earlier that 25,000 people are on the Dublin City Council housing list. However, the target for 2015 to 2017 is for only 3,347 new units. That is set out on page 15 of Laying the Foundations. This is across all schemes, including private rental and acquisitions. It would only impact on 21% of Dublin City Council's housing list. We have these really low targets that the councils are able to reach but they are not actually doing anything for the housing crisis. It is the same in all the local authority areas in Dublin and in those on the commuter belt - where the crisis is at its worst - such as Wicklow and Kildare. The figure for Dublin City Council is 21%, while it is 23% in the Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council areas. The problem is that the targets are too low. How management can say it has enough money is beyond me. Mr. Cummins stated that there is enough money but it is not working so why would it be enough?

The idea of depending on the private sector to provide affordable, secure housing - a concept Mr. Cummins has invoked frequently - has not worked and is clearly failing. Mr. Cummins stated that unless the private sector builds houses, the problem will worsen. He also stated that local authorities can only build 10% to 15% of what is required. Can he explain that? Is he saying that the local authorities are only allowed to build 10% to 15% of social housing? Was he referring to passing it to housing agencies? What did he mean? These are the obstacles we need to know about in order to overcome them. In an edition of "This Week" broadcast by RTE on 27 March 2016 in which the question of housing was investigated, it was stated that processes to find off-balance sheet funding for thousands of social housing units have failed. In other words, if a county manager is waiting for the private sector to provide the housing, he or she will be disappointed.

Why is the capital funding to actually build houses still so low in respect of all the targets? On the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government's website, it is stated that €500 million will be allocated this year for capital spend. In 2008, it was €1.45 billion. It is one third of what it was in 2008, yet a housing crisis that is beyond belief has developed since then. Why is management saying it is happy enough with the amount of money it is receiving?

In respect of modular housing, why is valuable council land being taken up with temporary housing? I know that solutions must be found and I am aware of how desperate is the situation. However, why is the council proceeding with expensive modular homes in Finglas, Poppintree and Fingal when, as has been reported in the Dublin People, there are approximately 40 houses, ranging in value from €115,000 to €200,000 - so they cost less than the modular houses - for sale on a property website? Why is there not more emphasis on acquiring them? Likewise, there are properties in Dublin 17 for sale for as little as €80,000. Some 14 houses in Dublin 10 with an average asking price of €150,000 are currently on the market. There were 20 homes in Dublin 12 for sale at less than €200,000 each so they would have been cheaper than modular homes. Why are they not being pursued?

I do not think we should say affordable housing is a matter for the private sector. The local authorities played a role in the past.

I live in an affordable house which I bought from a local authority. I would like to see that vacuum being filled by the local authorities, so as to provide housing to workers who cannot get on the social housing list and who are being screwed with really high rents of €1,400, €1,500 and even €2,000. In his presentation, the manager said this was up to the private sector. I hope he does not think the local authorities or the public sector cannot play a role in this.

It is difficult for members to raise some questions with Mr. Morgan that we would have liked to. Maybe he could come back-----