Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

More than 700 social housing units have been delivered to date thanks to this collaboration, and in excess of 1,000 units will have been delivered by the end of this year. I also wish to state that NAMA has made available virtually all of its housing stock to local authorities for social housing. However, not all of it was deemed suitable. Nevertheless, I state confidently that NAMA will become a key engine in social housing delivery as it moves further into the space of construction and development. There will be a substantial social benefit from its housing activities.

The issue of the quality of construction standards is also often raised. Gradually, the Government is coming to grips with dealing with the absolutely dreadful legacies of unfinished estates and poorly built, substandard homes and buildings, with examples being the progress being made under the Priory Hall resolution framework and by the Pyrite Resolution Board, not to mention the resolution of a significant number of unfinished estates, in which very significant progress has been made. In a social housing context, standards are ensured through the application of the building regulations setting out the minimum legally-acceptable standards and the quality housing for sustainable communities policy guidance for local authorities, which ensures that individual homes are designed to be part of a well-planned and well-integrated social environment and thereby become a good place to live. I commit here to overseeing a new era of quality in the construction industry, in which standards are maintained and enforced nationwide and I will be working with the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, in particular on this issue.

I now turn to the private rented sector, which is an important element of the housing market with the proportion of households in this sector almost doubling in the period between 2006 and 2011. I am conscious of the difficulties caused by rising rents and the problem of sourcing suitable accommodation, especially in Dublin, its surrounding conurbation and other urban centres. I absolutely appreciate that people are under immense pressure in this regard. As with many of the problems being experienced in relation to housing, the fundamental reason behind the rise in rents is a lack of supply. Increasing both public and private housing supply is a critical issue for the Government and will be targeted under the Construction 2020 strategy in tandem with its proposed social housing strategy. In addition, the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, was asked recently to conduct a study to explore options to address the difficulties being experienced in segments of the private rented sector due to rising rents. It is due to report back to me shortly with policy recommendations. I understand my officials have already received details of the report. It is the first of two studies on the future of the private rented sector and focuses on options to address the recent escalation in rents, particularly in the Dublin area and surrounding conurbation. I understand it explores a range of issues in regard to rent stability ranging from an examination of rent regulation regimes to the tax treatment of the private rented sector and the role of rent supplement. I welcome it and look forward to reading it. It will require careful consideration, together with colleagues in government, before deciding on the best options to address the current difficulties in the market. However, it will be taken seriously.

I remind Members that the Government's overriding objective is to achieve stability and sustainability in the market for the benefit of tenants and society as a whole. While not wishing to understate the extent of the problems being experienced by certain segments of the private rented sector, on average, rents in Dublin are still 12.7% lower than they were at their peak in the fourth quarter of 2007, while rents nationally are almost 19% lower than their peak in 2007. I acknowledge this does not take away from the substantial problem that must be addressed. Nevertheless, there is no question but that low-income tenants are experiencing difficulties in sourcing affordable rental accommodation and I am committed to looking at all possible solutions that can assist the most vulnerable. However, when considering this report and any proposed measures to assist low-income tenants in meeting their housing costs, including any system of rent regulation, it is crucial that these measures are carefully thought out and targeted to meet the needs of low-income tenants. While I have not seen the report as yet, I am in favour of promoting more long-term tenancy agreements as a way of introducing stability to the market. This type of certainty would be beneficial for both landlords and tenants, which coupled with a deposit protection scheme that I absolutely guarantee will be advanced shortly, will help bring some stability to those reliant on the private rental market. It has been suggested that linking rents to the consumer price index may be the solution to the current problem. However, in looking back at rents over the past decade, had such a system been in place, rents would have been higher in every year than were the prevailing market rents. Rent controls such as those suggested by some Members may hold out the promise of affordable and stable rents but it is essential that the Government explores all the options available to it to address the current difficulties and to ensure its policy decisions are informed decisively. The Government must also ensure that anything it does is constitutionally certain.

There rightly has been a major public focus on issues of homelessness in recent times. Indeed, there is significant pressure on homelessness services at present. Recent figures show there are 127 people sleeping rough in the Dublin region, while there are approximately 150 families residing in hotel accommodation in Dublin. In February 2013, the Government's homelessness policy statement was published, in which the Government's aim to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016 was outlined. The statement emphasises a housing-led approach that is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. As this is a matter of the highest priority for the Government, the decision was taken to ring-fence funding for homeless services by the Government in budgets 2013 and 2014 in support of the discharge by local authorities of their statutory role in the provision of accommodation for homeless persons. The availability and supply of secure, affordable and adequate housing is essential in ensuring sustainable tenancies and ending long-term homelessness. In the past two years in Dublin, approximately 1,500people have moved from homeless services to independent living, with necessary supports. This is to be welcomed but must be built upon. The implementation plan for the State's response to homelessness was published in May 2014 and is a practically-focused delivery plan that contains 80 actions which are direct, immediate and solutions-based and which contribute to the delivery of a ring-fenced supply of 2,700 units of accommodation by the end of 2016. This plan was developed by a team of senior officials from my Department, the Department of Social Protection, housing authorities and the Health Service Executive. The implementation of this plan requires and will get a whole-of-Government approach to addressing homelessness. Progress in implementing the plan is reported quarterly through the Cabinet committee on social policy and a copy of the second quarter progress report is available on my Department's website.

On the question of introducing a constitutional right to housing, the Housing Acts govern social housing in Ireland. The range and extent of measures implemented under the Housing Acts demonstrates the State's long-standing commitment to ensuring that housing needs, especially social housing needs are adequately addressed. The inclusion of a legal right to housing in the Constitution has not been pursued to date on the basis that decisions regarding the allocation of financial resources is a matter for the Government and not the Judiciary. The Government considers that the most appropriate way of addressing the rights issue in respect of housing is to continue the various programmes and fiscal incentives currently in place, to secure the necessary level of funding to support them, to review their operation on an ongoing basis to ensure that they are meeting their objectives and to put in place new programmes or measures as required.

As the Government's housing policy statement of 2011 puts it quite succinctly, the Government's vision for the future of the housing sector in Ireland is based on:

choice, fairness, equity across tenures and on delivering quality outcomes for the resources invested. The overall strategic objective will be to enable all households access good quality housing appropriate to household circumstances and in their particular community of choice.

I do not think anyone in this House would disagree with these principles, which I intend to turn into reality.

I have endeavoured, through my amendment to the motion, to reassure Deputies of the absolute priority this Government attaches to the issues of housing provision and homelessness and remind them of the range of actions we are taking, and will take into the future, to assist the most vulnerable members of our society. I assure colleagues of my fixed intention, together with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, to address these issues in a timely fashion. We have a plan set out for the coming years to address what is a priority issue for everybody in this House.

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