Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

These exchanges have been very illuminating and confirmed many key issues about which committee members have been concerned and with which they have been grappling. Mr. O'Mahony has stated we must not let the LDA lose the run of itself and that the Bill needs to constrain it. However, we also must make sure we do not lose the run of ourselves. In the complexity surrounding the establishment of the LDA we must not create another monster that will add to those layers of complexity, rather than remove the barriers and obstacles to addressing the housing crisis. We must remind ourselves of the context in which the Bill has been brought forward. There are 10,000 people living in emergency accommodation, of whom 3,750 are children. There are a further 72,000 people on local authority waiting lists, while many more are paying extortionate and prohibitive rents. Whatever else the LDA does, it has to address that matter. I welcome the delegates' affirmation that it must be its key objective.

I welcome the focus on the mix of housing. According to the summary of social housing assessments for 2018, 47%, or almost half, of the 72,000 households on local authority waiting lists are headed by a single person. If we are addressing crises, we have to address that issue. Of the 10,000 people living in emergency accommodation, just over 4,000 are households headed by a single person. Whatever the outcome of the LDA's work, it must address both homelessness and the type of housing homeless persons need. Important reflections were also made about the ageing population. I live in a house that is too big for me as my children have left home. Many others are in the same position. Even if one wanted to downsize, often there is no stock available. Older people and people with disabilities could also live in the mixed communities that were described.

Sustainability is important. On Sunday night I delivered a wedding present to my niece who lives in Ballincollig.

Her house is at the edge of Ballincollig. A single car was in front of every house, two in some cases. If we are serious about climate change, we need to reverse that trend of sprawl and people needing cars to be able to go to work. I am interested in the witnesses' thoughts on the objectives and the complexity involved in addressing the objectives, which involve ending homelessness for those 10,000 people at the very minimum and getting the right kind of houses in the right kind of places that are good for people and our communities. We are proposing a significant handover of public assets. Deputy Casey talked about €1.25 billion. This is a significant transfer. In the ratios proposed, we are talking about 10% social housing that would be in the ownership of the State. This equates to 15,000 houses. I am not a businessperson but that does not seem like a great deal. Again, I am interested in hearing the witnesses' views on that. How can we nail down affordability? As somebody said at a previous meeting of this committee, affordability means one can afford to pay for it so it is a very relative term. How do we gravitate towards a cost model because housing is far more than a commodity or something to be traded? It is the very roof over a person's head where a person can rear a family, go to school, live a life and get a job. I am concerned about giving away of significant amounts of public assets that now belong to all of us for a return that is very small in terms of public ownership. I am interested in the Copenhagen model. If the witnesses have any details about that, it would be something at which the committee would like to look.

I am also very interested in the idea of apprenticeships. I am doing a lot of work on Traveller rights and issues. The unemployment rate among Travellers is 80%. It seems a no-brainer for CIF, the engineers, architects and others to reach out to that community because it is only 40,000 people anyway. That would be of enormous benefit. There were traditions of craft and making in that community that, sadly, have been lost but interesting connections could be made. I include other hard-to-reach communities. I know people who work in Youthreach. The people going through those programmes are crying out for the kinds of work where there seem to be shortages. I would be interested in hearing the witnesses' comments on those points.