Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. There is some money in my Department to help if we want to do more about advertising to raise public awareness.

On the issue of voids, a new programme was commenced to try to deal with the backlog. A sum of €80 million was provided, and 7,000 social homes across the 31 local authority areas were remediated to a high standard. I acknowledge, however, that not every local authority is doing this to the same degree of efficiency.

I sat on Dublin City Council in 2009 and 2010 and I know that voids were a significant issue. Since then major progress has been made, but not every local authority has succeeded in meeting this standard. We have to continue to drive this in local authorities, because it is not acceptable that a significant number of voids continue for a long time, when families have housing needs.

On the question of de-zoned lands owned by the local authorities, again this is a function for the local authority, should it want to make a variation to its development plan and to rezone a piece of land, if it thinks that would be beneficial. I think it is important that the local authorities understand that. Of course, the Department is trying to centralise a land management initiative, so that we can get proper sight over what is available in each local authority and that we have a mapping of available land in place. This is a matter that I am reviewing at present, so that we can see how we can better deliver social land into new housing schemes. Many benefits will derive from such land use on the part of the State. I think part of what we are talking about in terms of what we need to do is rebalancing the fact that so much of this need was outsourced to the private market a number of years ago. When the market crashed, of course, a significant burden was placed on a number of people. As a principle, the State needs to make direct provision for social housing in the first instance. One can build other supports that we have seen working successfully in other countries around that.

On the question on the proposed council scheme in Carlow, which needs approval and for which the local authority needs the money, we did review the approval system for planning for construction projects and we are moving to put proper timeframes in place for each stage of the approval process. I know that certain elements, for example the delivery of the framework for procurement around rapid build is now successfully in place and that will help people move very quickly through the process. I think that since Senator Murnane O'Connor raised the issue, the Department will meet with Carlow County Council on the construction timeline. In terms of the figure of 138 units being approved, we want to see that expanded and the timeline met.

Deputy Dessie Ellis, who is not present, asked about the delivery of sufficient social housing and why the process is not working. At present, there are housing units on 607 sites in the pipeline, but in the first quarter of 2017, 1,600 units were approved. We have a very ambitious target of 47,000 units during the period of the programme but we have the funding behind it as well. We need to ensure that we are delivering on the commitments in the programme. It has been said in the course of the review that I am undertaking that if there is a need for a greater intervention in terms of the delivery of social housing units, we will make that intervention.

Deputy Ellis made the point that nobody was raising the issue of affordable housing. There is a number of sites that will come online in Dublin City Council - and I know that Deputy Ellis used to serve on the city council - where we can make an effort on supplying affordable housing that people can buy but also that people can rent. I think it is very important that we use what leverage we can in that regard to make sure that we are meeting those commitments. The former Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney had discussed with the committee ensuring that when we plan large housing schemes involving a significant number of people, we will have the right mix from private housing, affordable housing to buy, affordable housing to rent and social housing so that we can help build those new communities.

On the question of an over-reliance on the private market, where the minimum cost of a house at €300,000 is unsustainable, we are looking at initiatives to ensure new financing solutions or new schemes and initiatives for homes for first-time buyers are affordable. I had a meeting yesterday on an initiative that we may be able to introduce in that regard. I will be able to expand on that further in the coming weeks when we have a clear idea of the direction we will take on that.

Deputy Ellis also raised the issue of elderly people looking for suitable places to live.

Good work is being done with the different housing bodies and the local authorities in this regard. In the development I had the privilege to visit a couple of weeks ago 70 new homes were being delivered, and 16 of the occupants of those homes were elderly people who were moving out of larger homes that were once family homes but were no longer necessary. That is freeing up a further 16 homes in the local area for families. As part of this we must ensure that we are finding solutions for elderly people who want to move on to another stage of their lives or who no longer have a need for large housing. That is being done. It was achieved in the case I mentioned by carrying out an advertising campaign in the local area. That is how they were able to find people to move out of their larger homes. It was what those people wanted, in fact. They were seeking to move into a smaller home because it suited them in that stage of their lives, but it also worked in terms of the community and finding new homes for families.

With regard to public private partnership programmes and problems in delivery, good progress is being made on this. Some 1,500 social homes will be rolled out in three bundles and the total capital value of the programme is €300 million. The first bundle is six sites in the greater Dublin area. Deputy Ellis is probably familiar with the site in Finglas in his constituency. Some concerns have been raised there by local residents about the development, with a focus on the levels of social housing in the area. The development designs for the first bundle of six sites have been completed and the lodgement of the Part 8 planning application has commenced. We hope construction will commence next year with units becoming available in 2019, which will be very welcome.

There was also a question about a proposal for a State run entity that could deliver social and affordable housing. Deputy Ó Broin has an idea on this and for a pilot initiative to work with a local authority to deliver that. I told Deputy Ó Broin that it is something I will consider.

Deputy Ellis also spoke about the hubs and said they cannot be allowed to turn into long-term homes. I agree. To reiterate, the hub is a first response. It is a good first response and certainly is a better first response than hotels. We are moving quickly on this. Some 200 families will be supported in hubs as a result of the €10 million I approved last week. I have spoken with the local authorities, particularly in Dublin, and told them that if they can identify new locations for more hubs, if they consider them necessary, we can discuss funding for that. Again, it should be noted that it is just a first response.

Deputy Casey raised a good point - one that occurred to me as well - on the social housing projects in the quarterly reports. There are unique identifier numbers for each of the different units. To be perfectly honest, reading the quarterly report can be confusing at times. It is divided very well into the five pillars so we can talk about the different ways we must tackle this problem, but some of the initiatives cut across the pillars so it is important that we are not double counting something or getting confused about what is being delivered under which module or part of the plan. When we do the next quarterly report, and I have already spoken to the officials about this, we have to find a way to help people better track progress where it is happening so they can understand it more clearly. There were other suggestions about different columns that could be added and we will consider them as well.

Deputy Casey also asked about the rapid builds and why we are not delivering on them or delivering more. I raised this already today. There are 500 rapid build units advancing at present and by the end of the year 1,000 will be delivered or advancing. Part of the delay was due to the procurement process. That was solved by the previous Minister, Deputy Coveney, through the new framework in place. We hope this will progress more quickly as a result. Deputy Casey spoke about eight projects that appear to have gone backwards since the approvals process. Perhaps he will identify them to us so we can be clear about them and see if that is the case.

With regard to the fast-track planning, I have signed the order. It comes into effect on Monday, 3 July. On Wednesday, 5 July, An Bord Pleanála will hold an information meeting for local authorities, developers and others so they can understand what it means for them. I have also spoken to the Housing Finance Agency about it and what it means for it. I believe it is a positive development.

There was reference to a statement from the previous Minister, Deputy Coveney, that no local authority project had been refused.

To clarify, the process is the local authorities propose a project to the Department and it is not the other way around. The list contains all projects sent by local authorities to the Department and they can be approved.

It was stated that vacant properties are a win for everyone as infrastructure is already in place but the question was asked as to why we are only targeting 800 of the 198,000. I will get a better chance to speak about these figures when we publish our vacant homes plan. Very useful work has already been done around these figures relating to vacant homes. Of the 198,000, between 70,000 and 90,000 are in areas with high demand for housing, so automatically it is a lower figure. There are issues around short-term vacancies, meaning homes that are being sold or in the process of being re-let, and another amount is taken from the total. A certain number of homes are caught up in legal issues such as wills. There is still a healthy number we can target, and we must do that with a carrot and stick if we are to get those vacant homes into use. It will not amount to just 800 and the figure will be much bigger.