John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputy Tom Hayes. I have been in politics for ten years and part of that time was spent in a town council and Waterford County Council. I have come to understand the benefit of good housing policy generally. My experience of the 20% housing provision policy has been very good. I can appreciate the benefits, not only from the standpoint of people being housed in decent houses, but also the benefit to communities. People have found themselves in stable communities and there has been an effect on crime rates. The policy has allowed for social integration and has probably proven the benefit of innovative housing policy, which is necessary for the country.

This brings me to my next point, related to a circular issued to every local authority in February. Circular N3 of 2009 relates to social housing investment programmes and new leasing arrangements. As I understand it, this was done to try to identify more ways to facilitate social housing throughout the country. As we know, there are land banks or banks of houses throughout the country which are free at present. Local authority officers are calling the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to establish if the Department will fund their schemes and the answer they are receiving is "No". The Department, rightly, is trying to be innovative and the circular proves this. As I understand it, the Department determines the status of the free houses in these estates and enters into long-term leasing arrangements, which is fine.

The local authority officers to whom I have spoken believe this is a good concept, but they wish to tweak the arrangements as they do not suit every local authority. The €20 million allocated for this idea is a reasonable amount of money, but for the purposes of the local authority and for those on the housing lists they believe it could be better utilised. For example, it is the case that some local authorities, especially smaller ones, cannot access such houses. Some local authorities have advertised in local and national newspapers and have received very little response with regard to the houses the Department believes are available. In some cases, the needs of local authorities are not met by the houses mentioned. For example, there is no good in putting 20 senior citizens in dwellings two miles outside a town centre.

Something very simple could be done within the Department. It could take the leasehold concept it devised, but use it for sites already identified by the local authorities, for which plans have been drawn up and where the builders have been identified. Local authorities could then enter into long-term leasehold arrangements such that the builder proceeds and builds the development and enters into a long-term leasehold arrangement for ten or 20 years after which the local authority is given the option to buy up the units in any such development. That would allow a degree of flexibility for local authorities to proceed and meet the requirements for the people on their housing lists and it makes more sense all round. Right now, the scheme produced by the Department bails out the builders and the banks to a certain extent.

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