Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. Some of the questions have been asked. I will return to the last point on housing delivery figures for this year. When they are broken down, about 4,506 are through new builds, voids, acquisitions and leasing and 14,275 are through HAP and, to a lesser degree, RAS. The Minister stated that by 2020 there would be more provided through builds than through short-term housing measures. One issue I have raised consistently is my concern about our over-reliance on the private rental market, particularly HAP. When does the Minister see the tipping point happening? When does he see it equalising based on his plans in Rebuilding Ireland? Two-thirds of people who deemed their housing needs were met this year did so as a result of housing assistance payment. Many of them are relatively short-term leases of 12 months. The Minister states on a regular basis in the committee that it suits many people. It is not the evidence I have from the people I meet. HAP does not provide a home. For many people it is not a long-term solution. I continue to be very concerned about the over-reliance on it. Will the Minister give me a projection of the HAP spend in 2019? We had to provide additional funds in this year's budget. I am interested to see how the Minister sees us catching up on the capital side and more people being housed permanently. It is a concern I have.

I want to return to the service site fund and the €310 million for delivery of affordable homes which is something the Minister and I discussed and negotiated as part of the budget. The Minister did not read into the record the part of his statement that stated he expects the associated regulations and guidance to issue to local authorities shortly. It is in the Minister's written statement. When does the Minister feel we will have the criteria published for an affordable housing scheme? It was a major priority for Fianna Fáil in the budget negotiations. Local authorities, including mine, are engaging with it on the delivery of affordable homes for working people on State-owned land. I wholeheartedly support it but I want a timeframe. It means real delivery. About 6,200 homes can be delivered under it. When we start rolling it out, it can and should be expanded further. We have to look at doing that. Can the Minister give me a timeframe for the publication of regulations? It will be greatly appreciated.

The Minister mentioned the Land Development Agency and that he was bringing the heads of the Bill to Cabinet. When does the Minister see the Bill coming to the House to debate the workings of the Land Development Agency?

That brings me to two other questions about pending legislation. Deputy Ó Broin alluded to it. Both Deputy Ó Broin and I have engaged extensively with the Minister on the residential tenancies (amendment) Bill, which we are hoping to see strengthen the rights of students in student accommodation and provide for enhanced powers for the Residential Tenancies Board. The Minister's statement - I mean this respectfully - is something he could have delivered to us a couple of months ago. What is the delay with bringing forward the Bill? Is there a disagreement on the potential criminal or civil penalties? My party and I are of the view we should move towards civil penalties. The issue with the RTB is the issue of bringing enforcement orders to court. It is not required in many instances. I would like an update on when the Minister intends to bring forward that. Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and others have legislation. We held back on it - we published it - on the basis this Bill would be brought forward and that the Minister would include some of it in the residential tenancies (amendment) Bill.

The Minister mentioned short-term letting. We know what the Minister has said so far about dealing with short-term letting and regulations. When will we see this brought forward so we can get it implemented? The residential tenancies (amendment) Bill is very important. The Department is doing a review of the Rebuilding Ireland affordable loans. I asked about this at committee previously. The review is on the basis of the standardisation of criteria for financial underwriting. There have been differences between local authorities. At what stage is that review? Have we standardised the financial underwriting criteria? What is required for the applications? Will the Minister give me an update on the loan approval rate? We had a refusal rate of about two-thirds which was reduced to 50%, so one in two were being refused. What is the position now? What is the level of drawdown?

The repair and lease scheme was not mentioned in the Minister's statement. To be fair, I know the Minister cannot mention everything.