Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Three years ago my colleagues and I in the Labour Party sought a mandate from the people. The core themes we put before the people were jobs, reform and fairness. In February 2011, we were entrusted with an historic mandate by the Irish electorate. Every citizen of this country knows the perilous condition of Ireland’s economy, public finances and international standing which we inherited after nearly a decade and a half of Fianna Fáil rule. Since then, together with our coalition partners in Fine Gael, we have worked day and night to bring stability, growth and hope back to our citizens. We are now witnessing very tangible progress – more people are at work, economic growth has returned and a more confident Ireland is emerging.

Key to this turnaround has been the fortitude and resilience of the Irish people. I know Irish citizens have made very significant sacrifices and we owe it to these people to follow through on our programme for Government commitments and to work to ensure that improvements in the quality of life go hand in hand with a revitalised economy. This is especially true in the area of housing.

The programme for Government outlines a number of commitments on key issues such as ghost estates, social housing, urban regeneration and homelessness. These commitments have been, or are well on the way to being, implemented. However, as Members of this House know and as Deputy Catherine Murphy just outlined, the housing situation is rapidly changing. Over the next two year, the Government is determined to take bold steps to respond to emerging demand in the social and private housing sector. These measures go beyond the reforms outlined in the programme for Government.

Before I address these issues, I want to outline to the House the progress achieved on programme for Government commitments. In regard to unfinished housing developments, we committed to bringing forward a coherent plan to give hope to the families and communities whose quality of life was blighted by unfinished housing estates – a very potent example of the destructive dalliance the previous Government had with the property market. Since then we have reduced the number of unfinished estates by 56%. We have brought hope back to thousands of families who previously thought they were stranded for God knows how long in appalling living conditions. I acknowledge the role NAMA, the local authorities, financial institutions and local communities have played in working with Government to resolve this issue – partnership has proved to be the crucial element achieving progress.

Progress to date has improved the lives of thousands of families and yet there is still a significant amount of work to be done. Approximately 1,200 unfinished estates remain and many of these are the most difficult cohort to resolve. Last Friday, my Department received applications from local authorities under the new €10 million fund established in budget 2014, with the support of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and I hope to allocate funding under this measure in the coming weeks.

The programme for Government focused attention on regeneration and despite very significant downward pressure on the housing capital budget, the Government has maintained a significant regeneration programme. Projects are under way in Tralee, Cork, Sligo and Dundalk, as well as larger projects in Limerick and Ballymun. I am also pleased to say progress is being achieved for communities in inner city Dublin who were cruelly abandoned by the failed PPP model advanced by the previous Government. Work on St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore is in its final stages, while plans have been agreed and work will begin this year on Dolphin House and St. Teresa's Gardens. I am in regular contact with Dublin City Council regarding other projects and hope to be in a position to report further progress on same later this year.

The programme for Government highlighted specific actions on social housing and homelessness. The Government is committed to ending long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough. In the past two years in Dublin 1,500 people have moved from homeless services to independent living, with necessary supports. This is the type of housing-led policy that I want to see at the heart of homeless services throughout the country. However, despite the significant achievement in assisting 1,500 people to move from homeless services, there is an increase in the numbers presenting as homeless and, most worryingly, an increase in the number of families presenting. This is an urgent issue, particularly in the greater Dublin region. In the past few weeks we have formed the implementation structures recommended in the first report of the independent oversight group. The most important issue in terms of both short and medium-term responses to homelessness is the supply of appropriate long-term accommodation. In the coming weeks I will be examining all sources of supply, whether held publicly, privately or by NAMA, that can be utilised to provide adequate emergency accommodation and, more importantly, stable long-term accommodation. Securing supply will reduce our reliance on expensive and often inappropriate emergency accommodation and give people security and stability. The family referred to by Deputy Catherine Murphy is in need of such stable, long-term accommodation. I do not underestimate the challenge in sourcing supply, given the lack of new building in Dublin in the past five to six years, but I am determined to examine every available option to tackle the scandal of homelessness.

Increasing both public and private housing supply is a critical issue for the Government, as both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste outlined in the House yesterday. In the coming weeks the Government will agree and publish its construction strategy which will facilitate an uptake in development and has the potential to create thousands of jobs. As part of the public capital investment in housing, the coming 18 months will see in excess of €200 million being invested to expand and enhance housing stock. Investment in regeneration and unfinished estates will total some €80 million this year and additional measures include a new €65 million local authority mainstream building programme that I will allocate in the coming weeks; an additional €15 million investment that will bring more than 300 long-term vacant local authority housing units back into use; new two year capital investment in housing for people with a disability, the elderly and people who are without a home that will see some €35 million invested this year and next; investment in partnership with the not-for-profit housing sector that will expand the number of social units available; and a €30 million investment in improving the energy efficiency of local authority homes which will reduce energy bills for thousands of families and support green energy jobs. There are two important strands to this investment programme – first, to increase the supply of new social homes and, second, to ensure every available appropriate unit is transformed into a home. With supply at record low levels, the second strand, that is, turning empty units into family homes, is important in addressing the immediate problem of supply, particularly of social housing. I am concerned that many social houses are left vacant for long periods after tenants move out.

This is an opportune time to review where we stand as a country and plan for the future. This is nowhere more important than in the housing sector. The Government is determined to increase construction activity and the supply of social homes, deal with the legacy issues we inherited, end long-term homelessness and oversee a stable housing sector that works for families, rather than being a cash machine for developers and financiers. The programme for Government provides us with a solid base for that reform agenda. Much of that work has largely been achieved or is substantially under way, but, as the economy recovers, we need to respond to emerging challenges in the housing sector and I am aware that these challenges are acute in many parts of the country.

Innovative public investment, partnership with the not-for-profit sector and a coherent strategy for construction and home building are just some of the issues where policy is now focused in my Department. I do not have a monopoly of wisdom and constructive suggestions from both within and outside the House will be given full consideration. The country is changing. The despair and sense of betrayal that marked the public mood four or five years ago are being replaced. We can once again face the future knowing that the decisions we take are of our own making, not appendages to a troika deal. Much work still needs to be undertaken, but the country has changed for the better. In the next two years the Government will continue to work to improve the lives of families across the country, creating jobs, promoting reform and ensuring fairness.

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