Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the short time available to me, I wish to focus on the emerging housing crisis which needs to be top of the Government's agenda. I know that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is aware of the extent of this problem and is taking measures to tackle the it head on. However, I believe there is a lack of recognition around the Cabinet table of the extent of the crisis, which is the reason I raise the matter today.

I see this crisis manifest itself on a daily basis in my own constituency from Swords to Balbriggan. Having heard the contributions of other Deputies in the Dáil during yesterday's debate on the housing issue, I know that they encountering the same problems day in, day out. We need unanimous ministerial support to address our social housing problem and to give it the priority it deserves. Only with this support, will there be enough political will to ensure further measures can be delivered. We need that political will and we need it now.

We need to provide new social housing units as a matter of urgency. The previous Government stopped building social housing units long before the economic crash. Owing to its reckless disregard for the economy and the fiscal crisis left to this Government there was no money to recommence building when we first came to power. The much heralded NAMA units we hear so much about are part of the answer but they will not solve the problem. We need properly planned local authority housing and integrated, mixed developments in order to provide stable homes for people who are on waiting lists and for those who find themselves homeless. I welcome the two announcements this week by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan in regard to void housing units and first build of new housing stock since the economic crash in 2008. We will continue to push for further steps towards the provision of more housing units.

We also need to ensure that Part V planning in respect of social housing remains in place for when the private housing market picks up. Part V housing is an important part of social housing provision. As the economic crash has proven, we cannot rely on Part V housing as our only source of social units. We also need to build additional units through the local authorities. More people are becoming homeless owing to the housing crisis. People on rent supplement who are unable to have their tenancies renewed are particularly affected. If one visits any of the property websites and searches properties for rent in North County Dublin one will struggle to find properties which will accept rent supplement. I regard this as economic discrimination and I will be calling on Cabinet to consider legislating against the practice of excluding people in rent supplement from applying for rental properties. In this regard we also need to prioritise the roll-out of the housing assistance payment announced last July. This move will integrate payment of rent supplement and the social housing support systems by local authorities. We also urgently need to re-examine the cap levels for rent supplement. Everybody in this House will agree that rent supplement is not a sustainable system long term. While the current situation is being tackled, discretion for the setting of rent caps needs to be devolved to community welfare officers. Community welfare officers understand the local markets, know the people involved and have the professional experience to deal with cases fairly and appropriately.

The announcement earlier this week by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, in regard to the allocation of €15 million towards the redevelopment of void or vacant housing stock will result in the speedy turnaround of up to 500 units throughout the State which would otherwise be further delayed and not tenant ready. While this is a good step, more is needed. I believe the Government should set a statutory target for void units. Current time lags of nine months and upwards are too long. I believe as part of the Government's strategy on housing that we should look to establishing a statutory target for void housing units, which should be set at 2% of housing stock, or less. We have a housing crisis and a Minister of State in place to beat it. However, the entire Cabinet needs to accept the breadth and complexity of this crisis. North County Dublin is an example of what is happening countrywide. I believe a secure roof over a person's head is a basic right. This should be the number one priority for the Government until such time as this crisis has passed.

I take issue with Deputy Michael Martin's expressed concern in the House earlier this week that we are spending too much time debating the Government's priorities. I remind Deputy Martin that I have the same mandate from the people of North County Dublin to speak on their behalf as Deputy Martin has from the people of Cork and I reject his attempts to deprive me of that.

I welcome the opportunity to speak today and I urge the Government Whips to continue to provide all Deputies with opportunities to speak in this House on behalf of their constituents.

See this speech in context