Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ellis. I wish to make some points also and I will then call the witnesses. To go back to what the report is about, namely, investing in the right to a home, without rehashing the debate, we all know what we have come from here. Most of us in this room have been members of local authorities for long periods of time. We saw the lack of direct build and when it was pulled back and went to private developers and so on; we do not need to rehash all of that. However, we cannot provide social housing at the pace required for obvious reasons. As there is a shortage of approximately 100,000 construction workers who are required in the next three years, to provide the homes we need we must have the skilled workers to go with that.

In the interim, it is emotive and disingenuous to refer to a hub as a Magdalen laundry or direct provision. This committee was invited to the Mater Dei hub on Monday and to various other facilities that are provided. I accept it is awful that any family should end up here but I was blown away by the hub in terms of the facilities that were provided and the supports for families and individuals. There were family rooms and play rooms, chickens and hens running around the gardens, playground facilities, television rooms, computer rooms and private rooms for families if their child wanted to have a birthday party. I am not saying all of that is ideal but it is making the best of a very bad situation for those families. It is a short-term solution to allow time to provide long-term social homes. It is important that we keep in mind the purpose of hubs. They are a short-term solution to provide a better environment than a hotel room for families where they can bring up their children. Crosscare is doing a tremendous job. In the first eight weeks, of the 29 families that are there, 14 now know where they are going in the next week or two and consequently, to say they will be there for the long term is a little unfair. I am aware it will be site specific but half of the residents will be moved out within eight to nine weeks of first arriving at those hub facilities.

To return to some of the comments, Dr. Hearne mentioned State-owned lands being given to private developers. I can only speak about a site we have in Shankill, which certainly is not being given to a private developer. Senator Boyhan and I were very involved in this. We have a concept for 540 social and affordable homes because affordability is equally a problem in terms of social houses. That site is not being given to private developers. It is being given to people who need a home, whether it be social or affordable. We have to give people an opportunity to stay in their communities as well.

I fully agree with giving the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, more powers. I am aware that has been ramped up but the new initiative where the landlord has to inform the RTB, at the same time as informing the tenant, if he or she intends to evict a tenant is a step that will not solve a problem but will help towards a solution.

The comment about lack of capacity to live a normal life in a hub is a fair one to make but it is a short-term solution. We have to do our utmost to support any family who finds themselves in that situation but the services provided in Crosscare, whether they be baby-sitting, social services or educational facilities, were vast. They even included cooking classes. The clerk to the committee, Fiona Cashin, and I met some fantastic people who gave me great hope about the system. It is rare to come across that because all we ever hear is negativity. There was a gentleman there with his three year old child - I will not mention his name - who inspired me in terms of how he is trying to better himself. The services being provided to him and his family have helped him greatly to get back on his feet. It is important to recognise the help those families are getting. He did not mention anything about a strict regime. There were rules and regulations but to date there has not been a need to use them.

Local authorities have been given more powers and control. I know it depends on the local authority area in which one resides. Finances are not a problem in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. As the capital funding has been given to provide social housing upfront, it is not a problem. However, the lack of schemes coming forward from the local authority is a problem. A piece of land cannot be financed unless one has a scheme in front of one. We can complain about the delays in the Department but one can still come up with a scheme. That can all follow suit. Money cannot be given to a piece of land without a scheme or concept on site. It took local councillors in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown to come up with a scheme to go forward with a concept. Many of those schemes, such as O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin City Council, are solutions that can be copied by other local authorities. They should be encouraged to do so.

Many local authorities need additional staff and so on. We all know the restrictions that are in place but to build the number of houses we need takes time. We have a massive deficit in skilled workers who left this country during the recession to go to Australia or Canada. How do we get them to return? They need to know that this is not another boom and bust cycle and that there is longevity in the construction industry for them and their families before they will come back to this country. Government policy is facilitating that in that what is happening is sustainable development.

We are pressed for time. Many of the questions put are probably more relevant to the Department. If there is anything Dr. Hearne does not get to cover in his response, he might do that in a written submission to the Department. Who wants to go first?