Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairperson for letting me in at this stage. I appreciate it.

I welcome Mr. Mahon and Mr. Brannigan. Having served on Longford County Council, I have known both of them for many years. I have every confidence in their ability to deal with the issues relating to the county, not only in the context of housing. Since they came to Longford, they have both done significant work to improve the county. That is there on the record. I compliment them on all the work they have done.

To be quite honest, the title of Housing for All needs to be changed. The reality is that it is not housing for all. When it was introduced two years ago, County Longford and a number of other counties were not eligible for affordable housing. This is not what Housing for All should be about. Significant changes have been made since whereby particular towns can apply, but, again, Longford does not fit the criteria. Recommendations came from the committee, but Longford has been left out. A significant number of people living in my home county have been frozen out of housing because Longford is not eligible for a scheme.

I noticed from watching on the screen earlier that Longford County Council is hopeful of a scheme. To be honest, that is not good enough. It is not that it is not good enough on the part of Longford County Council, it is not good enough on the part of the Government and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is January 2023. We should not be in a situation where we are quite hopeful about having an affordable housing scheme. This is on the back of good work done by the county council to bring us to this point. We are as entitled as any other county in Ireland to have affordable housing. It is not housing for all and the title needs to change until everyone in every county has the opportunity to purchase and affordable homes.

With regard to the midlands retrofitting scheme which was introduced a number of years ago, 78 houses have been completed and 32 are under construction. There has been a significant increase in the cost of getting works done. I know there have been delays because of this. What has been the shortfall the local authority has had to make up out of its own resources to ensure the projects are completed? The Government and the Department should be funding the shortfall and the tab should not be taken up by the local authority which is delivering the scheme for the Department.

Deputy O'Callaghan made a point regarding the significant number of vacant homes. We know there are certain reasons for this and it is not a case that houses are being left empty. There are issues with regard to location and getting people to take houses in certain areas. This would account for a certain number of issues. The fact Longford County Council only appointed a vacant housing officer in the fourth quarter of 2022 is one of the main reasons for the higher percentages. I hope that the person who has filled the position will be there for a long length of time. We only have to look at the figures for the repair-and-lease scheme, Croí Cónaithe and the vacant homes scheme to see they are low. This is because we have not had a full-time dedicated person. I am confident that if we look at the figures in 12 months' time we will see a significant improvement.

The infrastructure that needs to be delivered by Irish Water, particularly in Edgeworthstown and Ballymahon, is an issue. This is required to allow the number of houses to be expanded in what are the second and third largest towns in County Longford. Where are we with regard to capital works? What sort of timeframe is involved in order to allow more development in these areas? The existing systems in the two towns do not have the capacity to deliver. Will any other town in the county face problems in the short term?