Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept the responses of the Minister of State to the previous amendments and I will certainly press some of them. I do not think the legislation is strong enough and it is not okay just to say it is down to the progressiveness or otherwise of the local Traveller accommodation consultative committees. The very reason we have the expert report is that the process is failing. Even based on what was said previously by the Minister, while the capital budget is being spent it is not being spent on providing much-needed new homes. Clearly there is a deficit here.

To speak on amendment No. 331, this is on the content of development plans. It would allow for the written statement in subsection (2) to allow for the zoning of land for the particular use of providing affordable housing as defined in Parts 2 and 3 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021. This is to allow for specific zoning for affordable housing. We have discussed this in considerable depth. There was an attempt by Dublin City Council members in the council's development plan to introduce affordable housing zoning. They were given advice by the management that they could not do so because the legislation does not allow for specific affordable housing zoning. The amendment proposes to ensure it is in legislation so that if councillors want to have specific affordable housing zoning, they are able to provide for it and there would be a statutory basis for doing so.

I will give an example as to why we might want to have affordable housing zoning, what it would achieve and where such zoning is in use. For example, if lands were being rezoned from industrial use to residential use, we could decide that rather than having them available for housing at full market prices, there would be a price cap per square metre, either in terms of the homes being rented or being sold, to reduce and limit the costs of new housing provided on newly zoned lands. This would have the effect of making sure that land value would not increase to the same degree as at present, and there would not be the same sort of windfall for someone who bought the land and gets a rezoning as there is at present, when simple full market price residential zoning goes on the land. This could be an effective tool to ensure much more land becomes available for affordable housing. In other countries where they have these types of zonings the maximum price that can be charged per square metre for rent or sale of a house on the land increases over time. Perhaps this could be done in line with the consumer price index so the price is not frozen in time forever but the affordability element of it is there forever because it is tied in specifically with the zoning and what housing is allowed to be provided on the land.

There would still be the normal Part V social housing provisions on those lands. Those would not be affected.

When the committee discussed the directly elected mayor Bill, the Minister or one of the Ministers of State said that the Government could not go with an Opposition amendment because it was not in the programme for Government. The Minister of State will be happy to hear that the programme for Government backs my amendment, as it speaks about supporting the Vienna model of housing. In Vienna, which is one of the most affordable places to live in Europe, certainly in terms of housing, a key component of affordable housing delivery is affordable housing zoning. When agricultural or industrial lands are zoned at the edge of Vienna for new housing and affordable housing zoning is applied to them, it limits the prices that can be charged.

The amendment is very much in line with what is in the programme for Government and what is good practice in other countries. It would stop windfall profits going to people through rezonings and make more land available for housing, specifically affordable housing. Given that it is in line with the programme for Government, I ask that the Minister of State support it. I cannot see a downside to it. I hope he will support it.