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

I thank the Senator for his questions. The first issue he raised related to publication of data, verification and validation. I find it hugely frustrating when I see different numbers reported as fact in different places and I have tried to bring a greater coherency to the different types of numbers we produce and publish but the difficulty is there are different ways of counting. We can count based on where the money comes from, whether it is from a CALF or a CAS, or delivery streams such as a local authority, AHB or Part V build. Separately, the construction quarterly reports do not count Part V, for example. As reports are published at different times in the year, people then try to get an overall view of what is happening but that can lead to confusion as different numbers are reported. It is frustrating when that happens. There is integrity in the numbers we publish. When we publish reports, we publish the same set of numbers. However, last year, I took voids out of the number in the table I have provided to the committee. This speaks to the issue. I have a number of different tables in front of me showing the way the numbers are reported to me. We took voids out of the numbers in one table to be clear on exactly what we were doing in the voids programme. People then take those numbers and use them differently because we have separated the voids out.

We will publish numbers in a consistent way and we will try to be as clear as we can on what is being achieved through different delivery streams. Not everyone will want to reflect what is happening in the same way and people can be confused about some of the numbers and datasets. Currently, we are examining whether there is a better and more intelligible way of publishing and presenting the numbers and how regularly we should do so in order that people can see what is happening and the progress that is being made. It is not about transparency because we are transparent with the numbers. One of the intentions behind giving the committee the target number for each local authority this year and updating it quarterly is that members can be clear about what is happening in their own local authorities. I recognise the issue the Senator is raising and we are examining it but there is no question about the integrity or validity of the numbers. There is perhaps a question about how they are presented and communicated.

While some of the colours might not have changed in the table that was updated and presented to the committee, the text changed to reflect progress that has been made. Many of the programmes are ongoing as they run for five years or were not due for completion in the first quarter of this year. That is the reason some colours have not changed but the text has changed in the tabular update provided to the committee.

We have discussed Storm Emma a great deal. It occurred during the first quarter. I was on the front line and witnessed the huge effort that each local authority put in working with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, and, in particular, the McVerry Trust. I single them out because they opened St. Catherine's Foyer and did a huge volume of work. The storm drew out homeless people who were not in the system. It is good that they are now in the system and we will try to find them sustainable pathways out of homelessness.

The local authority targets we have set are consistent with the Rebuilding Ireland targets. We have €6 billion for 50,000 units coming out of the social housing stock. We are, in particular, talking about the build component for local authorities and housing bodies. They are minimum targets and, therefore, if we can get ahead of them, we will do so. It will be my responsibility to secure the funding to do that. We have to recognise, though, that while the numbers might seem small for some local authorities, they are a significant increase on what was delivered in previous years because they are not up to speed to get all the different machinery properly functioning to build at the ambitious scale we need. At the same time, we want them to deliver through other initiatives such as the vacant homes and repair and lease schemes. As I stated in the Dáil yesterday, we have provided additional resources. More than 700 new staff for housing roles have been approved by my Department since 2015. I said at the housing summit earlier this year that if local authorities want more staff to manage projects, they can book them to my Department. That is not a problem and I want them to do that. This morning, my officials met representatives of the County and City Management Association, CCMA, to reinforce that point and to discuss additional resources. We will discuss this again at the next housing summit in June.

Voluntary regulation is in place for approved housing bodies, AHBs. We have been paving the way through voluntary regulation under the remit of the Housing Agency for statutory regulation to be introduced. The legislation is almost complete and it is a priority on the A list. I have monitored the drafting of the Bill closely and it is almost complete. I will then introduce it in the Dáil and, hopefully, it will move through the House quickly given we are all familiar with what needs to be done regarding regulation.

With regard to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, the NESC report was before Cabinet on Tuesday. If members have not read it, I encourage them to do so. It is a detailed report, which makes good recommendations that we hope to adopt and pursue under Project Ireland 2040. The Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum is a key site for strategic development that needs at the very least to be guided by the State. I will do what I can to examine it and other sites to see what role they can play bearing in mind the need for forward planning and the need to decant patients from the site to other locations and other issues that might arise as someone moves to secure that land. However, tying it to the NESC report, I recognise that when we consider all the resources and funding that are being put in place and the results that they will achieve, unless we do something more fundamental, we will repeat the mistakes of the past.