Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 October 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of the Land Development Agency Bill 2019: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and Land Development Agency

Photo of Colette KelleherColette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some of my questions have been answered but many more have arisen. The big sticking point for me is ownership. It seems like a massive giveaway of public assets for 15,000 social houses. I acknowledge there will be 45,000 affordable houses, but we have not defined what that constitutes. I have big questions in terms of a cost-benefit analysis and cost rental. If 60% of the cost rentals could be held by Ires REIT or a similar organisation, how could the State control the affordability of the rent and guarantee security of tenure? Private property is given great emphasis in Articles 40 and 43 of the Constitution. Unless we crack the ownership question, I would have a huge concern about what is being proposed. That is a matter for the committee to tease out.

There are big questions about governance. There should be a significant strengthening of the measures proposed in that regard, particularly in terms of the designated activities company and potential special purpose vehicles and public private partnerships. Given the collapse of companies such as Carillion, protections need to be put in place. I wish to see far more detail as well as the constitution of the LDA. I would like to hear the views of organisations collaborating with the LDA, such as local authorities and the Housing Agency. It would be important for the committee to hear those views on what is proposed and if the LDA adds as much value and is the picture is as rosy as the witnesses present.

What is NewERA?

The Kenny report must be uppermost in our minds when dealing with these issues. It is a sterling piece of work, to which we have not paid proper attention. We must come back to an understanding that we are talking about homes, not products. The question then is whether these proposals represent the best way to generate those homes. The Raise the Roof campaign which is holding a protest in Dublin tomorrow represents the people in this country who do not have homes or who do not have secure homes. Looking after them must be the driving force in this discussion. If the legislation gets things right in that regard, that is wonderful. However, there are concerns and questions that must be addressed.

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