Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know the Ceann Comhairle is drawing on all his years of experience here to define a very narrow line. It is a point of interest that Deputies want to ask questions and we can give them perhaps some facts that are distinct from a debate on Government policy on housing.

Perhaps, a Cheann Comhairle, I can give Deputy Adams some of those figures.

It is regrettable that anybody would lose a house. The key to preventing this is engagement with the lending institutions. Some cases end up in legal proceedings precisely because people may not have fully grasped what is necessary is terms of maintaining communication with a lending institution, be that a bank and so on. It is important people realise that the initiation of legal proceedings does not mean that homes will be repossessed.

Deputy Adams mentioned that 25% or one in four homes are being repossessed. The Central Bank statistics show that in 2014 313, principal dwelling houses were repossessed on foot of a court order. This represents less than 0.3% of the total number of family homes in mortgage arrears at the end of 2014. In 2015, the number of principal dwelling houses repossessed on a foot of a court order was 156, while a further 195 were voluntarily surrendered or abandoned. In quarter 1 of 2015, 206 buy-to-let properties were taken into possession by lenders, of which 123 were repossessed on foot of a court order and the remaining 83 properties were voluntarily surrendered or abandoned.

In terms of Government measures introduced to address this situation, the Personal Insolvency Act was enacted in 2012. This legislation introduces three new forms of non-judicial debt settlement arrangements and reduces the automatic discharge from bankruptcy from 12 years to 3 years. The Insolvency Service of Ireland, ISI, which was established to regulate the new debt settlement arrangements, reports that at the end of quarter 1 of 2015, 328 personal insolvency arrangements, the main mechanism to deal with secured debt, had been approved and that 821 arrangements, including debt relief notices, debt settlement arrangements and so on, have been made to date.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, is currently working on changes to provide for the introduction of further options to deal with longer term mortgages in arrears. The introduction of a mortgage-to-rent scheme facilitates families being able to remain in their homes by way of transfer of ownership of the house to a local authority or approved housing body. At the end of May, approximately 2,800 cases had been put forward, of which 2,000 have been progressed. As part of the Government package on mortgage arrears announced last month by the Minister, this scheme is to be amended to provide for an increase in the valuation threshold and greater flexibility in regard to property size, namely, an additional bedroom, to enable more properties to qualify under that scheme. A Mortgage Arrears Information Advisory Service has also been developed. This service also provides advice via its website and helpline, to which there have been more than 238,000 visits since June 2012.

Earlier this year, the Central Bank set out new requirements for the banks to meet, including that concluded sustainable solutions be in place for the vast majority of distressed borrowers by the end of 2015. Where legal action is taken that may result in loss of ownership for a borrower, the bank should be prepared to re-engage with the borrower and explore alternative solutions, if the borrower re-engages. By year end, 75% of concluded solutions should be meeting their terms and banks must comply with the code of conduct on mortgage arrears and engage fully and appropriately, as set out in the Personal Insolvency Act 2012.

Deputy Adams mentioned the situation in Dublin, which is of great concern to the Minister and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputies Kelly and Coffey, respectively. This is not just an issue of concern to our citizens, it has implications for competitiveness for the country as a whole. The Deputy will be aware that the line of investment into this country is very strong. In the Dublin area and, in particular, the greater Dublin area, there have been some very significant investment announcements made in the past two years. All of these require housing and office space infrastructure, which is a fundamental part of the construction sector.

The new planning legislation currently being advanced by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, is bolstered by measures introduced in budget 2015, including the national framework for housing supply. This housing provision will be based on timely and accurate data and an annual statement of projected supply and demand. The Minister has also established a housing supply co-ordination task force for Dublin, which meets every Monday morning, and provides for a joined-up approach in the Dublin area, with an immediate focus on addressing supply and demand imbalances. The Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015, published two weeks ago, seeks, primarily, to address the current shortage in housing supply, with a view to facilitating an increase in the housing construction sector, particularly in Dublin. It also targets a revision of the Part V obligation for developers in relation to social and affordable housing, which will contribute an estimated 4,000 housing units to the delivery of the targets in the social housing strategy. This strategy calls for a change in the regime for development contributions so that reduced rates can be applied to existing planning permissions and for incentives and penalties aimed at encouraging the development of vacant and under-utilised sites in urban areas.

The planning and development (No. 2) Bill will be published before the summer recess. This provides for the establishment of a new office of planning regulator which will provide enhanced transparency in the streamlining of the planning system, including a reduction in durations of planning permissions not progressed properly. In this regard, a use it or lose it approach will apply. This should result in an increased availability of social housing, which is a key priority for Government.

As announced in the budget last year, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has been given an additional €2.2 billion in respect of social housing provision. A social housing strategy was published in November 2014. This strategy builds on the provisions contained in budget 2015 and sets out clear and measurable targets to increase the supply of social housing through reform of delivery arrangements to meet the housing needs of all households on the housing lists. The strategy also targets more than 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units, in meeting the housing needs of approximately 75,000 households through the housing assistance payment and the rental accommodation scheme. Implementation of this strategy will address in full the needs of the 90,000 households on the waiting lists, with flexibility to meet potential future demand.

A provisional allocation of €1.5 billion in respect of local authority social housing provision was announced in April, the aim of which is to meet an ambitious delivery target of 22,883 social housing units out to 2017. Within this, the combined programme for Dublin comes to more than €500 million, €117 million of which was allocated to the four Dublin local authorities in early May in respect of 19 build projects which will see the development of approximately 566 new units of accommodation. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, has allocated this funding to the local authorities and has instructed them to get on with it in terms of social housing provision. In addition, the four Dublin local authorities have been allocated almost €6 million to bring 345 properties back into use this year and more than €15 million has been provided for Dublin across a range of other housing schemes, including works to improve housing efficiency for people with disabilities and retrofit of homes to improve energy efficiency. The home renovation incentive has been extended. This scheme is now open to landlords in respect of work carried out up to end 2015. The 80% windfall tax, which applied to chargeable gains on the disposal or development of land, which are attributable to planning decisions, has also been removed. The 33% rate of capital gains tax and other standard taxation arrangements will now apply. It is hoped this will remove any disincentive to the selling of land that might otherwise be put to good use.

First-time buyers are also being supported through the introduction of a refund of deposit interest retention tax on savings used to purchase a home. The Living City initiative, which is a new urban regeneration incentive focused on the regeneration of the historic centres of six cities, including Waterford, Limerick, Kilkenny, Galway, Dublin and Cork, has also been introduced. We do not want to see anybody sitting on land for the purpose of driving prices higher and cashing in. The Minister for Finance has held a public consultation on if and how this issue is to be addressed. He has also indicated that he will examine what taxation measures might be put in place to penalise landowners who do not develop land that is already zoned and serviced, if that is required.

These are some of the provisions the Government has put in place to address this.

However, as we all know, we cannot deal with the issue unless we put blocks, concrete and houses in place. That is the reason the full focus of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and of the Minister of State, with responsibility for housing, is on dealing with this urgent priority. While some 20,000 extra people have been employed in the past 12 months in the construction sector, there is clearly a need now for the Minister of State to prioritise the issues in respect of the Planning Bill and incentives for builders to get to work and meet the demand for private and social housing. We have allocated the money to the local authorities. They have the directions, the targets and the land. Let them get on with it now.

We must also look at the other question regarding how to meet demand, both in the greater Dublin area and beyond and the Minister of State is addressing that vigorously.

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