Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss tonight's Private Members' motion. I thank the Labour Party for bringing this motion, which needs to be taken seriously by the Government, before the House.

Public private partnerships were identified by Dublin City Council as the best method of delivering regeneration projects. The property developer, Bernard McNamara was selected by the council to redevelop all five projects at St. Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens, Infirmary Road, Dominick Street and Seán McDermott Street. The total value of all five PPP projects was €900 million.

However, the dreams of all residents concerned were shattered in May 2008, when it was widely reported in the media that these five PPPs in Dublin had collapsed. Under the original plan the developer was to build 1,800 new homes between the five sites. It was an attractive deal to the council and to the property developer, who had the expertise in the planning and design of major property development projects. In return for undertaking the design and construction the developers were to retain about 800 units and sell them, while the remainder would be used by Dublin City Council for social and affordable housing, replacing some old flat complexes. The PPP model delivered other projects such as the Fatima Mansions project. It is a grand model when times are good but when times are tightening the weaknesses in the PPP model must be examined.

The collapse of the PPP agreements between Dublin City Council and a property developer was a blow to the most vulnerable who were trying to buy a new home for the first time. These people currently live in substandard accommodation and have been waiting between five and eight years to be re-housed. It is unacceptable to be in this situation. The rehousing of these people must be urgently examined.

We must ask ourselves why the developer pulled out of these partnerships. The slowdown in the housing market in the past 18 months is the main reason for the derailing of the regeneration PPPs. Changes to the planning guidelines, making apartment sizes much larger, are to be welcomed. The size of apartments was far too small, particularly with young families living in apartments. Obviously the increase in apartments sizes would hit the profit margin of the developer and was another reason why he pulled out.

In May, when it was revealed that these public private partnerships had collapsed, the Government stated it would conduct a review of the rules concerning public private partnerships. Today we are still awaiting this review. When will the House be furnished with the results of this review?

While I agree with the majority of points in the Labour Party motion, I disagree with the call on the Government to take the necessary steps to remove the developer from the five projects. As of today, 8 July, Dublin City Council has formally terminated its contracts with Bernard McNamara for two out of the five regeneration projects, St. Michael's Estate and Dominick Street. The developer is to proceed with at least one project and could potentially proceed with another two.

It was recently confirmed that the property developer will proceed with the redevelopment of the convent garden lands on Sean McDermott Street. The council and the property developer are also to enter into mediation on the two other housing projects on Infirmary Road and O'Devaney Gardens. However, the Council is threatening to take Mr. McNamara to the High Court if mediation is not successful. It would be ludicrous to remove Mr. McNamara from all PPP contracts, particularly in view of the long delay. The council must examine the originally unsuccessful bidders to get them involved in the other projects.

I find it extremely careless on the Government's part not to have in place strict penalties if developers renege on PPP arrangements. I echo the Labour Party's call on the Government to implement sufficient sanctions. What was the reasoning and wisdom behind giving a single property developer the contract for five regeneration projects, when there was a chance the contract would not be fulfilled? Stronger penalties should be written into the contract to ensure a developer could not walk away as easily as did Mr. McNamara. On these grounds the local residents have every right to be disillusioned because these projects are in doubt. We must restrict the amount of PPPs that a single developer can be granted at any given time.

As Deputy Hogan stated, the waiting lists for social and affordable housing in Dublin are the highest in the country and with this PPP collapse, those on the housing list face an uncertain future. We now see the first large bloc of victims of the economic downturn, those who are always the first to suffer in these situations. We must look out for these people and ensure the PPPs continue.

I am concerned at the huge waiting lists for social and affordable housing. This Government has failed to deliver on affordable housing. In May, Dublin City Council closed its affordable housing scheme for eight months, a decision which was a major setback for all those who are eager to make a start on the property ladder. At that time, I appealed to Dublin City Council to revisit its plans and hire more staff to deal with the backlog of applications rather than penalising the genuine homeowners looking to make it to the first rung of the property ladder. I was shocked that Dublin City Council closed its affordable housing scheme. Some 8,000 people remain on this waiting list and it is not good enough that this was allowed to happen.

Dublin City Council's decision was terrible news and a drawback for all those who are eager to make a start on the property ladder. While I recognise that there has been a huge increase in applications over the past couple of years, the application system must be thoroughly re-assessed, with more background checks necessary to prevent abuses of the system. I appeal to Dublin City Council to hire more staff to deal with the backlog of applications, particularly for young people. The affordable housing initiative has failed. There are currently 750 people on the affordable housing list in Fingal County Council. There are 3,000 people on the affordable housing list in South Dublin County Council and 4,500 on the affordable housing list in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

This Fianna Fáil-led Government established the affordable housing partnership in 2005 with the sole aim of increasing the supply of affordable housing through the release of a series of State and local authority lands. The 2007 NDP target for affordable housing was 5,700 units while, shamefully, only 1,800 units were delivered. The affordable housing partnership has failed to deliver for those on waiting lists. It is only a talking shop and another waste of taxpayers' money.

It is beyond belief that there is no centralised affordable housing waiting list in operation at present. As a result, it is not possible to ascertain a true figure of those currently on affordable housing lists. In addition, the way in which local authorities manage applications results in differences in terms of who is counted on their waiting lists. For instance, in some local authority areas, all applications are added to the list. When housing becomes available, eligibility is assessed and housing offered accordingly. The result is an imprecise list. At the same time, other local authorities assess eligibility in order to add applicants to the waiting list, with the resulting lists being shorter but a more accurate reflection of the number of eligible households waiting. Of course, just because households are not eligible does not mean they do not have housing needs and this must be considered. I call on the Minister to instruct local authorities to create one centralised affordable housing list. I also ask that the Government deliver on its affordable housing targets.

The announcement of the collapse of five public private partnerships in May sent shockwaves throughout the country, particularly in the communities directly affected by the decision of McNamara Construction. The residents concerned were devastated as negotiations for the projects had taken years and those affected had their hopes shattered.

The council and Government must ensure strict penalties are written into future public private partnerships to ensure the developers involved in the 18 other public private partnerships do not walk away and follow suit. We must ensure the PPPs are watertight and that they continue. The council must enter into immediate negotiations with the other unsuccessful initial bidders in an attempt to save these public private partnerships.

Dublin City Council must be forced to re-open its affordable housing list. It is nothing short of a disgrace that it was allowed to close it in the first place. I also seek a review of the State Authorities (Public Private Partnerships Arrangements) Act 2002. The Minister must work directly with Dublin City Council to ensure that these public private partnerships go ahead without further delay and every opportunity must be taken with McNamara Construction to salvage those which have a chance of being saved. I know the Minister is committed to ensuring they go ahead. We must take action on affordable housing and waiting lists and ensure the PPPs go ahead.

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