Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister has met the county managers. Will he meet at an early date with the 31 directors of housing in all local authorities to explain to them the targets he has in mind? I know there are issues around getting funding off the Government’s balance sheet and that some decision was taken on this at the first new Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Will any building programmes be financed through the European Investment Bank, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, pension funds or the private market? Will there be legislation in this regard? Will there be the development of cost-rental models, as proposed in a recent National Economic and Social Council report? What progress does the Minister hope to present to the Dáil when it resumes after the recess?

The Taoiseach advised the House this week that the heads of a Bill had been approved by Cabinet for approved housing bodies. The former housing Minister, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, was asked to bring forward legislation in this area urgently. What is the timeline for this?

There is still uncertainty about HAP, a key element of the recently passed housing Bill. People in RAS and in private rented accommodation are concerned there is no security of tenure. We are back to the days of our predecessors in the national movement in the 1870s. Will the Minister take responsibility for this issue and address it?

The Minister will also have read the section 227 review of the National Asset Management Agency. By the end of 2013, 596 social housing units were delivered by the agency, while this year 500 residential units are due to be delivered. This is nowhere near enough to cope with the 100,000 families requiring social housing in areas such as east Galway, south Dublin, north Dublin and Tipperary. It is a dismal response from NAMA. What will the Minister do to get NAMA to deliver on socioeconomic objectives which are clearly laid out in the NAMA legislation? Will the Minister examine the models in other European countries which have strong social housing programmes to start to claw back the horrible housing situation that has developed over the past 20 years?

See this speech in context