John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I support the Government amendment. I also thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion on the matter of housing, the content of which is broad and far-reaching.

The first line of the Labour Party motion refers to high house prices. We recognise that prices are high, but it would be remiss of me to leave it at that and not refer to some of the initiatives and undertakings of the Government. High house prices are specifically related to supply and demand, but not solely because the population of the country has risen significantly in the past decade, although it would be easy to say that. There have been other social aspects. The number of family units has changed significantly for various reasons. I do not want to go into the reasons, whether separation, divorce or individuals living longer on their own etc. On the demand side, the number of family units has risen significantly owing to population and family size, but during this period the supply side has increased significantly with current output at approximately 80,000 new units per annum, a figure that has been maintained for the past few years.

The motion refers specifically to the fact that approximately 60,000 households receive a rent supplement. This should not be viewed as a negative but as a response to a demand which the Government is meeting. I will return to this point which should be looked at from that point of view.

It is interesting that the motion refers to the inadequate provision of social and affordable housing. While the Government introduces policies to address this issue, the implementation of many of the policies falls on various local authorities. Anybody who takes time to examine how these policies are implemented will notice that there appears to be uneven implementation of them throughout the country. It is incumbent on all political parties — because the parties on the Government side of the House do not control all the local authorities — to play a role in this area. Not all local authorities engage actively and equally in the process. All we need do to realise this is look at some of the statistics on output, capital expenditure and the numbers on the various lists in the different local authority areas where we see unequal results.

I am best placed to speak about my local authority area, South Dublin County Council. I am more than satisfied with its response on a range of issues, including its response not just on social housing but also on affordable housing, particularly under Part V where it implements its target of 15% as far as possible, a target it adopted a number of years ago under the Planning and Development Act. The Part V strategy requires 15% of residential developments to be reserved for social affordable housing purposes. Within recent weeks the council advertised publicly for applicants for affordable housing. It is probably the lead authority in this area and has developed an innovative approach to affordable housing, called the property path, which involves the authority having what might be termed its own estate agency where the available properties and prices are displayed. The applicant can go through all the paperwork because the council advertises and promotes what is available. If we look at the national newspapers, we do not see many other local authorities being as proactive, which is disappointing.

It is disappointing that local authorities do not deal with affordable housing in the manner intended by the legislation. We are often criticised for not giving local authorities sufficient freedom and control. However, where we have allowed this freedom, it does not appear to be implemented equally. The South Dublin County Council initiative of the property path is excellent. Unlike the days when people had to go to their local authority, the council or the "Corpo", people feel when they go through the property path as if they are going to an estate agency where they get advice, see pictures of the property and are directed and have their applications processed. Typically, when people get provisional loan approval, their letter tells them that they are likely to be offered a property within six months. The system is working well to date.

The most recent advertisement in the newspaper on behalf of property path, just a few weeks ago, advertised two-bedroomed homes from €142,000 and three-bedroomed homes from €172,000 in three locations, the Belfry in Tallaght, Rosse Court in Lucan and Rathgael in Clondalkin. These properties came to the local authority in a variety of different ways, some under Part V and some under various other initiatives. They are advertised and promoted and I would like to see more local authorities actively engaged in a similar process.

The motion also refers to social housing. Just before Christmas a report dealing with the assessment of social housing needs for each local authority area in the country was published. If we match the housing needs in the various local authority areas with the programmes they have adopted and their output, they do not tally. South Dublin County Council assessed a need for 1,800 housing units and Fingal County Council assessed a need for 2,500 for the same period, which is significantly more. However, the programme adopted by South Dublin County Council caters for far more than that of Fingal. We must examine such issues.

It is easy to be critical of Government and say it has not addressed the issue or that it does not have policies in place. We have policies and mechanisms in place but we need to return to local authorities and check whether they are delivering to meet the needs in their communities. Deputy O'Connor will speak after me. As a former member of South Dublin County Council, I am proud to acknowledge what it is doing in actively addressing the issues. I do not have enough time to go through the figures on its social housing programme, but it has adopted a programme and is achieving the target. Its target for the next few years is clearly set out and it monitors the housing construction programme monthly. Some local authorities do not address the issue nor meet the needs of their people and when we correlate what is being done with the assessment of social housing needs, there are discrepancies.

It is easy to be critical of the policies. However, the implementation of many of the policies is the responsibility of local authorities and a responsibility in which every party in the House has a significant role to play.

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