Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As a member of the committee, I wish the Minister well and congratulate him on his appointment. It is in all our interests that Rebuilding Ireland would be a success, notwithstanding the gaps that we know that are in it in terms of supply initiatives. We hope to use our influence in so far as we can to try to ensure that the Minister takes on board some of our initiatives and policy directives in that area. Rather than going into that now though, as the Chair has said, we want to focus on the progress and the implementation of the existing plan under the various headings and pillars to ascertain what improvements can be made in order to make some progress. Unfortunately, we have not seen the level of progress that had been intended. That is quite obvious.

Based on the figures we have been examining, homelessness has increased since January 2016 to April of this year by in the region of 28%. Based on the figures associated with that percentage increase, 11 people every day have presented themselves as homeless during the lifetime of this Government. The Minister states that there have been 3,000 successful exits. As previous speakers said, he states that within this plan it was envisaged exits from homelessness would be directed towards modular units and social agency homes. Will the Minister confirm that we still have only 22 modular units completed? We have been hearing about pipelines for close on two years now. However, specific to this plan and the commitments made within it, will the Minister confirm that, as of now and the completion of the quarter about which we are questioning the Minister, only 22 units have been provided?

It is clear that the social housing units are not being delivered at the pace envisaged either or we would not have the increases that we have in homelessness. As has been alluded to, the Government has made a conscious decision to provide family hubs. As temporary forms of accommodation, I welcome them. They are an improvement, one would say, on the hotel and emergency accommodation that was provided heretofore. However, it is quite obvious that the Government will not meet the commitment made by the previous Minister. Will the Minister say when the Government might realise that success? In terms of what the Minister has said to us today, he states that "[s]significant additional resources are in place under budget 2017, which will again enable the achievement of a further increase this year of sustainable exits from homelessness". Is that a further commitment to us that the Government will have achieved its targets then? Has the Minister reassessed the targets considering the increase in homelessness? Is it purely confined to the area of family hubs in terms of how people will exit homelessness?

The other point relates to what is to be discussed this evening. It follows on our discussion yesterday with the Department in relation to the Airbnb situation. As I said then, based on a decision of An Bord Pleanála last year and circulars by the Department to local authorities, there is a responsibility on local authorities and planning authorities to enforce the planning laws and guidelines. In those cases, one would have expected a trawl of units that were being offered although they did not have the relevant planning permission given the decision of An Bord Pleanála. However, it is patently obvious that local authorities do not have the staff, resources or inspectors to ensure that that work is done.

When we hear today that emergency accommodation which was to provided for the homeless fails a fire inspector's test, I am sure that it sets off alarm bells. Do we have the inspectors, manpower and resources to ensure that property being made available for those in these circumstances also meet the requirements? I spoke to a representative of a local authority this morning about the responsibilities for the housing assistance payment and the rental accommodation scheme and was told that the local authority had not got around to inspecting all the properties that are currently let and are in receipt of funds. Given what happened in the UK last week, this sets off alarm bells. There must be an immediate effort on the part of the Government and those in responsibility to ensure that whatever funding, personnel and expertise are necessary is made available so that we can say categorically that the issue is being dealt with effectively, properly and to the letter of the law. If there is any deviation from that, there is a culpability and those in authority with responsibilities must respond immediately to it.

If the Department truly believes that local authorities do not have adequate resources or staff to deal with those issues, we want to know about it. We do not want to hear about it after some tragedy. The tragedy of homelessness is bad enough and urgent enough. It is a crisis and an emergency. Unfortunately, that urgency did not manifest itself yesterday when I heard a Department official say that, as far as it is concerned about the Airbnb issue, which is only one aspect of many commercial realities contributing towards this crisis, local authorities have not had a reported incident that would agree with the decision of An Bord Pleanála.

They have not been trawling their own records and files because they do not appear to have the wherewithal, manpower or expertise to do so. God forbid that the same situation would arise with regard to the inspection of properties being offered to people to reside in. I remind the committee that in many such cases, the State makes a contribution through the housing assistance payment and rental accommodation schemes. That is the issue in a nutshell. I ask the Minister to respond to it. What progress is being made with modular units?

As I said to the last Minister, we should be told if there is a legislative issue with the provision and deliverability of modular units. Members of the Opposition and others are willing to consider legislation to ensure speedier progress can be made with this issue so that homes of this type can be made available. That is what we are interested in doing. We sat late into the night a few years ago to deal with the banking crisis. We are only too willing to assist in ensuring adequate legislative provision is made. We are prepared to enable emergency legislation to be put in place for a period of time to ensure people can see there is real urgency and a real effort to deliver.

As I have said, this well-intended plan received the resources needed for the input and effort of stakeholders. When it was initially proposed, we said it was all about its implementation. Just nine months later, we are unable to realise some of the modest targets contained in it. This issue is being overtaken by events and commercial realities. The measures being taken in respect of the house construction and provision sectors, including the social responsibility measures, are driven by demand initiatives, with no emphasis on supply. I have explained what I would like to see happen, which is a broader point. I have asked a few specific questions about homelessness that I would like to see answered.