Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 27 April 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil will oppose this amendment. I understand the motivation behind it. We are putting this legislation before the House for a reason, which is to have a significant intervention in the market to provide affordable purchase and affordable rental. The programme for Government was put together to respond to the issues which Deputy Gould and other Deputies in this House, including the Minister, have spoken about over the past ten years. Therefore, in order for us to have that intervention, we have to put forward legislation in these two significant policy areas, for affordable purchase, which we have discussed, and for affordable rental. It is important that affordable rental is let out by affordable housing bodies and by the State, initially on balance sheet. In order for us to provide a broad base of affordable properties in the State, provided through a public housing model, we have to scale up.

I believe that a full cost-recovery model is the key to affordable rental. It is also the key to ensuring that the model can be scaled up so that affordable rental actually becomes the predominant rental model in the market. For many of the reasons for which we objected to the previous amendments, although I do not suspect it is with the same motivation, I will oppose this amendment.

I am opposed to this amendment because the linking of affordable rent, in particular through the wording, to "30% of net income" is too specific. It could, for example, be below or above that. My view is that it is better to link it with the full cost recovery model which allows for that element of affordability, including supply. I am therefore opposing the amendment.

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