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

I thank members and the Chair. I welcome the opportunity to discuss with the committee the Department's Revised Estimates for 2024 and the Votes for Tailte Éireann and the Electoral Commission, which are also under the aegis of this Department. I am joined by the Minister of State with responsibility for local government and planning, Deputy Alan Dillon, and by the Minister of State with responsibility for nature and heritage, Deputy Malcolm Noonan. I am also joined by officials. We provided a brief in advance so I will keep my remarks brief and focus on the main critical areas of expenditure. The Estimate before the committee totals €6.9 billion for the year and is comprised of €3 billion in current funding and €3.9 billion capital. In addition there is €141 million capital carryover from 2023 and €151 million from the proceeds of the local property tax, meaning that some €7.2 billion in funds will be managed across Vote 34 this year. This Estimate reflects the transfer of a number of functions from my Department. All existing staff and financial resources associated with oversight and governance of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, marine spatial planning and the foreshore services have transferred to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

I will now take the committee briefly through the key areas of expenditure for 2024. This is the third year of the implementation of Housing for All. We had a detailed discussion on that in advance of this meeting and I will not rehash the points that have already been made. I will focus on the key areas from a funding perspective.

Overall, this year €5 billion in capital funding is being provided through a combination of Exchequer funding, lending by the HFA and investment by the Land Development Agency. The capital investment will be supplemented by a further €1.5 billion to support the implementation of current funded housing programmes. This funding provision will ensure that 29,000 additional households will have their housing needs met through the provision of over 23,000 social homes via new build, acquisition, leasing and through HAP and RAS, and a further 6,400 households supported to buy or rent at an affordable price. While we talk of households and homes and units, each of us here today needs to remember that, in reality, we are talking about approximately 100,000 people having their housing needs met or supported by the State in 2024, and that is significant. The overall funding provision in 2024 also ensures continued investment for the implementation of Housing for All. Members here today may have noted the Euroconstruct report. I have discussed that previously and I will not dwell on it.

Our priority is obviously to continue the housing output that we have and that is underpinned by the capital investment, but supporting individuals and families facing homelessness is a key priority for the Government. Budget 2024 provides €242 million in funding for homeless services, which will support the provision of emergency accommodation and supports that households require to exit emergency accommodation as expeditiously as possible, to a tenancy or, indeed, to prevent them from entering emergency accommodation in the first instance. This funding, I can assure members, will be kept under continuous review throughout the year. Critical to supporting households to exit homelessness is increasing the supply of housing and we are firmly focused on the continued acceleration of social housing delivery.

Almost 12,000 social homes were delivered in 2023, through the build, acquisition and leasing streams, including 8,110 new-build homes - the highest level in nearly 50 years. The main focus for 2024 continues to be on capital investment to deliver new-build homes to support households on social housing waiting lists. Some 12,930 social homes will be delivered and the majority of these, 9,300, will be new-build homes. Importantly, the Government has, again, agreed to an increased provision to acquire 1,500 social homes with the primary focus on properties where a tenant is in receipt of social housing supports and has received a notice to quit due to the owner's intention to sell the property. This scheme delivered over 1,800 acquisitions in 2023, vastly exceeding the target we set. In addition, a further 10,200 new tenancies will be supported in 2024 through the housing assistance payment scheme and the rental accommodation scheme.

In line with Government's commitment under Housing for All, more affordable homes will be delivered in 2024, building on the progress already made in 2023 where over 4,000 affordable housing supports were delivered through our delivery channels - approved housing bodies, local authorities and the LDA, through the first home scheme, the cost rental tenant in situscheme and the vacant property refurbishment grant. These figures represent an increase of 128% on 2022 delivery, which highlights the significant progress achieved to date in relation to affordable housing from a standing start.

Notwithstanding delivery challenges associated with significant increases in construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain issues combining to have a real impact on the cost of housing provision, an ambitious programme of affordable housing is now in place from a standing start in 2021. In addition to the funding provision for the delivery of new social, affordable and cost rental homes, the investment provided for housing this year will also address the broader range of critical housing areas. This includes measures to support the specific housing needs of people with a disability and Travellers, initiatives to tackle vacancy, remediation of defective homes, energy retrofitting measures, upgrading and adaptation works and ensuring the better utilisation of existing local authority stock.

In relation to water, the programme for Government has committed to Ireland complying with the water framework directive and, among other measures, to launch a new revised and strengthened river basin management plan. This draws on a collaborative approach between all stakeholders. My Department has made substantial progress on how we manage our water quality and our water services, which continue to undergo significant reform in the approach to the delivery of water services and the promotion of wider environmental protection. The implementation of the Government policy paper on water services transformation is well advanced with Uisce Éireann as the national stand-alone publicly owned regulated utility.

In 2024, we will providing €1.6 billion to Uisce Éireann for the delivery of water services. This includes €974 million in capital to allow them to continue their capital investment programme to modernise and expand the capacity of Ireland’s water infrastructure. Such projects include Ringsend, Arklow and the Athlone main drainage project, which will raise network capacities, increase water quality and bring us closer to compliance with European directives. This record level of investment will ensure that Uisce Éireann can support the delivery of the Government's housing objectives under Housing for All. In addition, Uisce Éireann is taking additional actions to support housing connections to public water services. This is being done through the publication of capacity registers, engaging with the LDA on identifying land suitable for development and facilitating self-lay accreditation, which we started on a pilot basis in 2021 and now is being used widely across the country. My Department also continues to invest directly in rural water services through the rural water programme by allocating over €67 million in 2024. A new multi-annual rural water programme will be launched by my Department in the coming months. This will also include a new element to support the provision of wastewater treatment in non-sewered villages.

The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, will shortly speak on matters related to local government but I want to mention the significant level of Exchequer funding that has been allocated to support fire services in 2024, with a total envelope of €53.2 million being made available. This includes €25 million in capital funding to support investment in fire service infrastructure, the front-line emergency fleet and necessary equipment and building on the progress made in the preceding years of the capital programme. This total level of investment underpins my Department's continuing commitment to develop the structures, equipment and response capacity of the fire services. The allocation also includes funding towards the cost of a WRC agreement that was agreed between the retained firefighters and their employers, supported by me and my Department, last year. This new pay agreement will see firefighters paid a significantly increased fixed salary in tandem with reduced attendance requirements, supported by additional recruitment for the service, in recognition of the vital role that they play in keeping our communities safe across the Republic.

Furthermore, on the local government sector, the Government will be making a contribution of €466.2 million to support local authorities in their work in 2024. It should be noted that, following the conclusion of local property tax baseline review, and in recognition of the raising costs and demands facing the sector, every local authority will receive an increase of at least €1.5 million in baseline funding under the LPT allocation. Of course, it is important to note that this week is a historic week for local government, with the election of the first directly elected mayor in the country, in Limerick and I wish the mayor every success in his new role.

Other key developments this week relate to the significant and important work on the Planning and Development Bill 2023, which, as the committee will be aware, concluded in the Dáil last night. This Bill will bring about increased clarity to the legislation and improvements in how the planning system functions for both practitioners and the general public and is the culmination of rigorous legal review by the Office of the Attorney General and engagement across key stakeholders, both public and private.

On Met Éireann, this year in excess of €58 million will be provided to Met Éireann enabling the provision of a range of meteorological services to customers, including monitoring, analysis and prediction of Ireland's weather and climate to ensure the quality, timeliness and reliability of these essential services.

Before I hand over to the Ministers of States, Deputies Dillon and Noonan, I would like to acknowledge the work of both Tailte Éireann and the Electoral Commission - An Coimisiún Toghcháin and the positive contribution that they have made since their establishment last year.

I have tried to keep my remarks as brief as possible and now I will hand back to the Cathaoirleach to allow the Ministers of State in.