Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his opening statement. Before I ask my questions, I want to acknowledge the significant amount of work done by the departmental officials in terms of their preparation of the reports for today's meeting, particularly the pipeline and progress reports which are very detailed pieces of work.

I have a series of questions on each of the pillars. We are almost half way through the lifespan of Rebuilding Ireland. Essentially, we are two and a half years into a five year plan. The spend on emergency accommodation has increased from €70 million per annum to, following last night's Supplementary Estimate, €176 million per annum, which is a 193% increase. I am not arguing against the provision of emergency accommodation and better quality emergency accommodation but I am concerned that half way into this plan, on which the Government continually tells us very significant amounts of money are being spent and progress is being made, the spend on emergency accommodation is increasing dramatically. At what point in the lifespan of Rebuilding Ireland will the spend on emergency accommodation start to fall, which would be a key indicator of things beginning to improve at the rough end?

On the modular hubs, again, I am not against better quality emergency accommodation for families than hotel rooms and bed and breakfasts but following on from the responses I received to two parliamentary questions I am concerned about this project, albeit we have only limited information on it. In both responses, the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, said there could be a dispensation from or a relaxation of building regulations for these modular hubs. Will the Minister set out explicitly how a dispensation from or a relaxation of building regulations could happen? I was not one of the people who attacked the idea of modular housing when it was first proposed because I understand that such housing can be good quality housing if it meets all of the building regulations. I am worried, however, that with these modular hubs we are putting in place accommodation that is much closer to the public perception of modular, which is prefabricated or Mosney type accommodation. I would appreciate if the Minister could elaborate on the quality of those builds.

On pillar 2, social housing, what are the totals for quarter 3 build, acquisition-lease, HAP and RAS, which is not included in the report, although I appreciate it was finalised only last night? When the Minister has given me that information, I will follow up with a supplementary question on where we are at with the targets. There has been a significant fall-off on the leasing target and the Minister is trying to match this with increases in acquisitions but I do not see how the numbers and funding match. Perhaps the Minister would provide reassurance in that regard.

In regard to the pipeline report, could Traveller specific accommodation be included? I acknowledge that the Minister gave me a positive response to a parliamentary question in which he said this proposal would be considered but the committee would like to know the progress of Traveller specific social housing. There is no reason that information should not be included in this report as there is not a huge number of such projects out there.

On pillar 3, private housing, I have no objection to densification. It is one of the aspects of the national planning framework of which I am broadly supportive. I have two specific questions with respect to the report, and the new guidelines, with which the Minister provided us today. In producing the report and the planning requirements therein, was an impact assessment undertaken of land values in urban centres as a result of increasing heights? We know, for example, that as heights are increased profitability from inner city sites increase and this has an inflationary impact on land values. Was that examined? There are people who argue that there is a tipping point between height and density such that as heights increase density increases but that on reaching a particular height there is no significant gain in density because of the need for more surrounding space etc. Was a specific study done to identify the tipping point in terms of height and density and what height provides maximum density, particularly in areas such as inside of the canals in Dublin?

I note there has been no housing commencement data published since August, either by the Department or by the CSO. Will the Minister explain the reason for that? For example, is it that the data have not been uploaded and, if so, when we will the data for new builds of public and private sector housing be published? On the rental sector, the Minister is aware that Sinn Féin has been broadly supportive of his intention to provide the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, with new powers. As discussed earlier in private session, the relevant legislation needs to be progressed quickly in the new year. I am concerned about the preference for criminal sanctions over civil sanctions simply because it would mean the RTB would have to take cases to court and that would be expensive and time consuming. Will the Minister clarify if it is the intention to make those criminal rather than civil and, if so, explain why?

My final question is on the right to housing, which was a matter of public debate in the President's speech this week and at launch of the Simon Community's annual report yesterday. At the constitutional convention, 84% were in favour of a constitutional right to housing. The programme for Government includes a commitment to examine it but that task has been removed from this committee and given to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, which has yet to do it. As I said, the issue was mentioned in the President's speech earlier this week. In the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission's research by Amárach, 63% support a constitutional right to housing. Has the Government set its face against this or is it willing to consider it and how can we have a discussion about it?