Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have three quick points and some follow-up questions. I respectfully disagree with Mr. Curran on one issue. Gross social housing need is not decreasing. We have 60,000 households on the council lists, 60,000 households on HAP, and just 20,000 shy of that on RAS. Those local authorities that still retain the good practice of presenting their members with gross and net housing lists, much to the discontent of the Department, give a much more accurate figure, and that is before we talk about transfers, sofa surfers and whatever else.

Moving on to turnkey properties, because the points made by Senator Cummins are important and it is appropriate that we have a good discussion about these matters, those units are more expensive in urban areas due to higher land prices. This point is particularly relevant for cost-rental units, and explains why no cost-rental projects for Dublin city are included in the call for proposals for the CREL scheme. The prices for the turnkey units are just too expensive. I do not mind if we call these properties turnkeys or forward purchases; they are what they are. We must accept that if we want to ensure the kind of expanded volume of cost-rental properties called for by everybody here, and if we need a great deal of these units in our urban cores, especially in the expensive ones, then that is not going to come from forward-purchase agreements, based on the figures in front of us. Therefore, in addition to more turnkey units, we will have to ensure that we have a pipeline of new-build projects.

Mr. O'Connor nailed an aspect of the issue. Either the CREL fund increases, and-or, as we discussed with the Housing Finance Agency last week, we find other ways of stretching out the loan terms to bring down the cost of entry level rents. I say that because Deputy Boyd Barrett's point is correct. Rents of €1,200 or €1,300 per month are of no use to some crucial cohorts of people who cannot get into social housing and for whom those sorts of rents are not affordable.

I have probably asked my questions three or four times. On the payment and availability, P&A, agreement review, what would it take from the Department to get that review to work? I am interested in that information. My next question might have been answered earlier by Mr. Curran, but of the 200 new staff positions for local authorities, how many have been appointed and are in place? It would be useful if those figures were available. Again, on the affordable housing regulations, my understanding is that the final ones have not been published yet but that the consultation process with the local government sector is finished. Is there any sense of when it is anticipated those final regulations will be ready? They are holding up the release of some properties for sale, for example, in Cork. To agree with Deputy McAuliffe, I would also like to see more ambition in cost-rental endeavours. The central problem is that the Government is only spending €70 million this year for 700 homes and, therefore, if we want more ambition in this area, whether for the local government sector or the AHBs, that pot of money must be increased because of the 700 units for this year, 300 or so are the overspill from those not delivered last year. Central government funding is still too low in this regard and this is what must change if we want the councils and AHBs to do more.