Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate on an extremely important subject. Recently, I met one of my constituents who has been in receipt of rent assistance for nine years. As she has one child and little familial support, she has no choice but to live in private rented accommodation. A house could have been built for her with the rent support which has been paid over those nine years. This is both financially wasteful and a waste of her potential. She wishes to return to work to improve her chances and those of her daughter. However, the system has caught her in a poverty trap that is expensive to maintain. I personally know many people who have been on the waiting list for five or six years who have been in receipt of rent assistance throughout. They live in rented accommodation costing €900 or €1,000 per month. They cannot earn enough to pay this rent and would lose their rent assistance if they go to work. Hence, it is impossible to do so and they have no choice.

Much of the emphasis for delivering houses has been placed on Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The signs are that in recent weeks, there has been a shift in policy by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. On 15 November 2005 I received a reply to Question No. 555 from the Minister for Education and Science on the issue raised by Deputy Gilmore in respect of school accommodation. Part of the reply states:

[T]he provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 do not place any onus on developers to provide school sites, other than at market rates. I am keeping an open mind on whether legislative change might be of assistance or prove the best way forward here.

It was followed by a comment in the most recent edition of The Sunday Times on the part of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government which reinforced the impression that there has been a change in policy. We must know whether a change with such a dramatic potential effect has been made.

In practice, there has been a poor return on social and affordable housing. For example, if planning permission is granted to a developer with a Part V obligation, typically what happens is that the developer proceeds to build the estate. When it is nearly complete, the developer begins protracted negotiations with the local authority, thereby causing a logjam in which the houses become too expensive so that they either are not approved by the Department or people are unable to secure a mortgage on them. The local authority then settles for a site or for the money instead and must go through the process of zoning, designing, getting planning permission, going to tender and building the houses. Hence, several more years elapse before such houses are delivered. That is the reality.

Any change in policy that reduces the delivery of the 20% target must be compensated for by direct provision on the part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The programme for Government promised a review of the operation of Part V in respect of delivery. Has that happened and, if so, what were the findings? If such a review has not taken place, why not? Sufficient information is now available.

Moreover, the rental assistance scheme must not become a substitute for the provision of a home. While it has both merits and shortcomings, it could end up becoming an expensive substitute in which private landlords are guaranteed a rental market. I would not consider a situation in which I was unable to replace wallpaper, own my own furniture or did not have security of tenure of a permanent home. We must know exactly the long-term philosophy behind the rental assistance scheme.

As far as affordable housing is concerned, much is determined by the availability of loans. Either the existing limit of €165,000 for an annuity loan should be increased or the reality that the scheme is not available to most people should be faced given that houses cost more than that sum. The shared ownership loan scheme also has limits. As for the clawback clause on affordable housing, we have been informed that Bank of Ireland and EBS offer loans. I am unable to find a single person who has been successful in getting a loan because of the clawback clause. In reality, affordable housing is not on offer to people. While they are put through hoops, it is not working for them.

I believe that something can be done in respect of housing. The cost of building land has a dramatic impact on the cost of houses. In practical terms, the Government can intervene in that regard.

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