Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and commend the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, for his work on this issue. The Bill is a first and important step in addressing the issue of housing supply throughout the country and particularly in Dublin. I am also happy that there will be a 3% levy on vacant sites to promote the redevelopment of those sites. There are pockets of such sites in every city and county. Local authorities will be obliged to keep a register of vacant sites, which is another step in the right direction.

Social housing provision is one of the most pressing issues in the country at present, and nowhere more so than in Dublin city and in my constituency of Dublin South Central. In 2008, almost 5,000 social housing units were built; in 2013 the number was under 300. This was due to the fact that there was no money. However, matters are improving as a result of the work the Government has done on the recovery of the economy. We are now in a position to put more money into building social housing. The Government has a solid plan for this through the Construction 2020 plan, the social housing strategy and the implementation plan on homelessness.

The social housing strategy is key to addressing the problem and shows the genuine commitment of the Government to act. The strategy commits to supplying 35,000 additional social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion over the next six years and to meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through local authority provision via the private rented sector and the housing assistance payment. Over 50,000 of these individuals and families are currently in receipt of rent supplement. The new payment will be different in that it will be managed by local authorities and will allow recipients to continue to receive payments if they find full-time employment. This removes the problem of people refusing to take up jobs because it resulted in them losing rent supplement.

The housing strategy also commits to reducing the housing waiting lists by 25% nationally by 2017. There are currently 20,000 people on the waiting list for housing in Dublin City Council, so we have a mountain to climb. The good news is that Dublin City Council has been allocated €4.3 million this year to bring 234 vacant social housing units back into use. During the boom regeneration was the buzz word. Developers were climbing over each other to sign up for public-private partnerships to build new housing developments throughout the city. In my constituency Fatima Mansions has proved to be a well worked development and has been well managed. It still has some problems but they continue to be monitored. Not far from where I live is St. Michael's Estate.

Unfortunately, its development did not go ahead, for many reasons. I heard Deputy Ó Snodaigh speak about the role of the regeneration board in St. Michael's Estate and the proposal to build another 50 senior citizen units on the 1B site, which I understand are important and welcome. The Deputy also stated, however, that the community is behind this. As somebody who has lived in the community all my life, I never heard anything about this until the meeting last week. The wider community in the parish does not know anything about it either. I wonder why St. Michael's Estate regeneration board still exists when there is no St. Michael's Estate anymore. It is gone.

The city council had control over Richmond Barracks, Keogh Square and St. Michael's Estate for many years. Each, in its own way, had its problems. What we do not need in Inchicore, particularly on the old site, is another development where the community will be held at ransom on many occasions, as it has been because of certain families being rehoused in the area, thus causing nothing but great problems through anti-social behaviour and crime. Those responsible are bringing relatives back into the area. This has to be addressed locally. I am raising it because I have already raised it with the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. I hope he will continue to monitor the situation because it is grave.

When the crash came, everything ground to a halt. Many projects sadly lost their way. One of them was St. Michael's Estate. Instead of being redeveloped into an estate with potential for social and private housing, it fell by the wayside, all because of a certain few individuals who decided, before they would sign on the dotted line, that they would need to know the colour of the handles on the presses, the colours of the doors and even the colours of their windows. Unfortunately, the project fell apart.

Last month however, I was delighted to welcome the announcement that 15 new housing projects are set to proceed across Dublin, with a total investment of over €95 million, as part of the first phase of the Government's social housing strategy. It is the first major investment in local authority housing in many years and a very important step forward. In Dublin South-Central, 45 new units are to be developed at Cornamona Court in Ballyfermot, with an investment of €9.25 million. Last September, a new 75 unit development was opened on site 1A at Thornton Heights, which is at the old St. Michael's site. This was long awaited. It is a good development but, unfortunately, some elements have decided to come back in and establish roots there.

Last month I was at the opening of a new development in Bluebell. There are 19 new houses at Grand Canal View, for which the Government gave €3 million. It is a really good development, a small one. We need to consider building on a small scale so we can manage the units, rather than building huge estates that we can no longer manage.

Two weeks ago, I was delighted to attend the Liberties Showcase and Investment Expo in the new Teeling Distillery in Newmarket. Supported by Dublin City Council, this forum is made up of a mix of business managers and traders from James's Street, Thomas Street, Meath Street and Francis Street. In addition to attracting new commercial ventures to the area, a key aim of this business forum is to encourage collaboration between local businesses. It is an excellent initiative and I wish it every success. The Liberties is a very historic part of the city and has its own regeneration project. An investment worth almost €1 billion by both the public and private sectors has been made in this area.

I welcome the new Living City initiative launched on 5 May, which will encourage property owners to refurbish their properties or redevelop old commercial properties. This is important. Deputy Creed spoke about this. I am very much in favour of the living-over-the-shop concept, whereby people could live over shops and units that are derelict in every city. It is important to encourage this as it makes streets more friendly and secure. It is a really good initiative. Under this initiative, owners of old properties will be able to avail of tax incentives for refurbishment works. This is important because many of the older buildings have fallen into disrepair because they have been left derelict. They need to be reinstated.

I welcome the Bill and I thank the Minister for introducing it. We have huge mountains to climb regarding housing and homelessness but we now have an opportunity to develop according to a housing plan that we did not have in recent years. We need to ensure the money is given to proper developers who will build in conjunction with the community. Above all, safety must be prioritised over making profit. I welcome the Bill and hope it goes through the Dáil with as few problems as possible.

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