Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I also welcome his commitment to the significant changes needed and, in that context, the fact that he is gathering around him a team of experts from inside and outside his Department.

We previously experienced a huge housing crisis in the 1970s. Are there staff in the Department who were involved in drafting the huge housing programme introduced when Mr. Tully was Minister? I acknowledge that that was a different time and that the issues were different but it was a very successful building programme. From my reading of the history books on the foundation of this State, according to Charles Townshend one of the most important things done at that time was the public building programme. There is history, tradition and the facts. The fact is that there is a huge under-class of people in this country who are in desperate conditions, including in Drogheda, Dundalk and so on.

The social housing strategy introduced in 2014 does not go far enough. I ask that the Minister examine the percentage build per county under that strategy. While in some counties the percentage is 40% to 50% of housing need, in other counties it is much lower. For example, the level of building in County Louth will equate to only approximately 25% of current need while, if my recollection is correct, in Tipperary it will be in excess of 50% of need. There is another weakness in the strategy in terms of the reliance on the private sector to provide 75% of social housing need in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Galway. I welcome the proposed increases in that regard as mentioned by the Minister. I agree that if there is a deal to be done with the private sector in regard to the supply of housing it must be reciprocal. For example, the private sector could be offered significant tax breaks in return for long-term lease agreements with local authorities under the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. There must be a quid pro quo. We must make it attractive for the private sector to sign up to rather than avoid the HAP scheme.

That is happening in some cases.

The other point is about NAMA. Local authorities have let down NAMA in the greater Dublin area, as the agency offered the authorities thousands of houses for social housing and they refused them in Dublin. That is a fact.