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

That is not bad. I have covered a lot of ground.

On energy efficiency and the health and well-being of those who live in social homes, it is very important that we seek to upgrade older social homes in particular. The Estimate provides €10 million for 400 social homes under the energy efficiency programme, which is a good start. More significantly, in conjunction with the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, my Department has announced the midlands retrofit programme which is part of the Just Transition. It will cover eight counties and 750 homes. It involves an investment of €20 million and work has already commenced in areas such as County Longford. An investment of €20 million has been made to upgrade those homes and make them healthier and safer and more energy efficient places for people to live in. It is a pilot programme. Many members have interacted with me on it. It may involve action by their local authorities. I am anxious for the pilot scheme to be concluded by the end of quarter 1 of 2021 such that we can look at how it has worked. NUI Galway is carrying out a longer-term study on it to ascertain its effects on the people and families living in those homes. This is a really important piece of work that we are undertaking and will go some way towards meeting our just transition commitments.

The Estimate provides €59 million for home adaptations to be undertaken, an increase of €2 million on 2019. On the issue of remediation works, I have allocated €40 million in the Estimate to remediation works, which include the mica and defective blocks scheme which I, along with colleagues, launched in Donegal in July. That scheme is now up and running and open for adaptation. It is a matter into which this committee and some members of previous committees had a significant input.

I refer to the continuation of the pyrite remediation scheme, which I extended into the city and county of Limerick last week. Deputy O'Donoghue will be aware of that, and we will keep that programme under review.

While €6 million might seem a small amount in the overall scheme of €5 billion, that has been allocated to increase the number of home and rental inspections that local authorities undertake. It has been a regular concern for this committee, and for me, when we are bringing in additional regulations and giving new responsibilities to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to ensure that the private rental stock is also up to scratch, and that is why we must also invest in those homes.

Many other items are covered, and I turn briefly to Irish Water. This Estimate is more than €1.2 billion, with just short of €600 million going to current spending and €635 million to capital spending. Those seem like significant amounts, but there is a challenge regarding capital funding for Irish Water. We want to improve our wastewater infrastructure, reduce leakages, improve our drinking water and ensure it is up to standard. We also want to expand the network so we can build more homes. To do all of that, we will have to make some serious decisions regarding the funding of Irish Water.

I conclude by stating that this meeting is timely. We are coming toward the conclusion of budget negotiations. The country is in the grip of a global pandemic, and that has had a significant effect on output in our construction sector, public and private. We must keep the pandemic under observation as we move into next year if we are dealing with second and third waves regarding the impact on the sector and what are considered essential services. I am committed, however, as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, to delivering on the ambitious programme for Government negotiated between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.

As I stated at the outset, however, I have experience of this committee. It is an important committee and, generally speaking, while we may have had disagreements in the past it has worked very well together. I intend to engage proactively with members of the committee to try to assist in making real strides in tackling our housing crisis by providing public homes on public land, providing affordable housing, driving down numbers of homeless and investing in our wastewater infrastructure, while also driving forward the significant local government reform programme detailed in the Programme for Government - Our Shared Future.