Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. Listening to some of the contributions, one would imagine that the Minister is going around knocking down houses and closing them up rather than building them and providing the most money for housing and the most support for families that I have ever known in my time in public life, which is a long time. The reason he has had to do this is that the economy collapsed and there was no housing built for years. He cannot be criticised for investing the greatest level of funding ever provided for Rebuilding Ireland and putting people into homes. I meet homeless families and I wholly agree we need to do more, however the work which the Minister is doing cannot be denied and it has had some success, such as the 5,100 adults who left homelessness. I recognise others became homeless, but we must acknowledge the work the Minister is doing. Some of the statements and queries made here were unfair and unreasonable. There was a question about whether the Minister knew of any construction projects that he had stopped or that had been stopped. How can the Minister be expected to know that? If members know about things which are happening they should inform the Minister and he can deal with it. When I look at County Louth, I see more and more houses daily. When I am on the road, I am seeing white vans again after they were absent for many years. I see delivery trucks laden with construction material and cement trucks day and night, every day. On my way here this morning, having left home at 6.30 a.m. to get to this meeting on time, there was a massive cement truck which was absolutely laden down with the cement which I was glad to see. There are many positive and good things happening and I want to acknowledge them.

People have expressed concerns to me about Rebuilding Ireland loans. One family's appointment was cancelled three times. That is not the Minister's fault, and I am not putting it at his door. Eventually they were told that there was no funding. The partner of the person who came to me works in County Dublin. They were told this week that funds are available in Fingal, although they are not available in Louth. That creates a problem. The Minister said that ten local authorities have reached their allocated quota. Is it reasonable to ask that loans be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis so that no matter where applicants live in the country, if they pass all their assessments, they are given their loan? If it is the case that some counties have not had the same number of applications and have money available, that money should be allocated to others who have been passed over. The loan is very important. It is for those who cannot go onto the housing list because of their income, but whose income is not high enough to get a loan from a building society. I welcome that the Minister is providing money, and has done so, and has stated that further tranches will be needed and that this is done in a transparent and open way.

I have looked at the figures in the HAP update for 2018. Apart from Cork County Council, the highest number of HAP tenancies are actually in County Louth. That is amazing, I had not realised the number was so large. That is significant. The Minister had a rent pressure zone in Drogheda. It suggests that rents are far higher for many people. Has there been any analysis on HAP allocations? Very good local authority officials are administering it. Some people complain about the number of HAP tenancies but if they did not exist some people would not have roofs over their heads at all, and they would be homeless. The reason people are put on HAP tenancies is that they cannot meet the rent at a given time. Is there analysis? Some counties have very low figures, although they contain significant urban areas. Are there significant policy differences around the country?

It is important that every Minister appears before the Oireachtas. They should be, and are, put through their paces on what is or is not happening but we must acknowledge the excellent work that is being done. The numbers of planning permissions are increasing all the time and the number of new starts are growing. I spoke to a block layer earlier. He is paid a €725 retainer weekly to work on a building site and gets €2.20 for every block that he lays. Is a skills shortage coming? It is anecdotal, perhaps, but it seems very hard for people to get tradespeople or there are significant delays. That bring us back to the issue of Brexit. Have we any indication that a skills shortage is coming and how Brexit might affect skills shortages?