David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be not be long. I want to comment on this important legislation and acknowledge that the Government is working hard to provide housing. The housing crisis is very serious. While this Bill deals with urban regeneration, I represent a constituency which is predominantly rural, although it also contains a number of medium-sized towns. I have never encountered such an acute need for housing as that which currently exists. Families come to me daily after receiving notices to quit because their homes are being sold. They have nowhere to go.

I am not sure what I can do or what answer I can give to these people. Many of them have small children at school, but may have to relocate to a different area or town, which is disruptive. The uncertainty is extraordinarily stressful. Many of these people are unemployed and do not have the resources to rent and, meanwhile, rents are rising.

The housing assistance payment or HAP scheme is new and I have issues about it. As I said on the last occasion we debated this topic, we need a housing czar. Such a person could take the whole issue on, going around the country to find out where houses are boarded up. The houses could then be made habitable. The housing czar could also find our where there are houses under the control of State agencies such as NAMA, and get them freed up as a matter of urgency.

In three days time it will be midsummer, the weather is warm and the days are long. I am worried, however, about what will happen in the dead of winter if we do not address this as a matter of urgency now. I do not often speak in dramatic terms, but this is a serious crisis. There are many provisions in this Bill but a lot of them will not happen for a while, whereas we need action immediately.

We could charge the housing agencies to become far more active. I listened to what Deputy Coppinger said earlier and there are constitutional issues concerning compulsory purchase orders for private property. I do not think it is possible to do that for housing. Alternatively, building a lot of social housing without proper planning could be a mistake. We need to start talking about building communities, including schools, recreational facilities and green spaces.

The previous Government increased housing density levels. When I visit certain housing estates now, however, I find the housing density is so high that people have no room to park their cars. As a result, people are arguing and falling out because such areas were not properly planned. It was a matter of squeezing in as many units as one could in the smallest possible space. Prices did not come down back then, they went up. I disagreed with that at the time and said so. I thought it was badly planned. In other jurisdictions social amenity areas and green spaces are planned first and the houses are built around them. In that way one can build a community, including schools and shops.

There are large housing estates in my area which were supposed to have shopping areas and crèches, but they were never built. The houses were built and money was taken, but those amenities were not provided. As a result, people must travel long distances to crèches and there are no local shops which were promised.

Deputy Coppinger suggested that in future we should build large amounts of social housing. It is not good enough, however, just to build a lot of housing and leave it there with nothing else. It is crucially important to plan it properly.

We must take this matter on. How many units are boarded up in each local authority area that could be made available immediately? How many units does NAMA control that could be made available now? I come from an area which traditionally did not have this problem, so I shudder to think what is happening in towns and cities.

The Minister of State should reconsider the proposal I made some months ago to appoint a housing czar to kick butt and get this sorted out as best we can. We must move quickly because we are heading for winter. Perhaps the Minister of State can tell me what I can say to young families, including mothers with small children, who have no place to live. I have seen a proposal to build prefabricated units, but planning and services are required for that. It is a stop-gap emergency measure, which will probably help some homeless people in Dublin. It is better than sitting on the side of the street but this matter needs to be addressed urgently.

I have spoken to Ministers about it and they realise how serious it is, so we need action. We also need a census of people on waiting lists to see what is happening. It is not easy to sort out, but my suggestions should be taken on board straight away. We need to help people who are under stress and strain because they are being told they have only weeks to leave a property. That is because the owners are selling it or moving in themselves and, as a result, these people have nowhere else to go. They have searched through all the housing agencies, auctioneers and rental properties but there is nothing available for them to rent. What do I say to these young families? What can any of us do? Let us please move on this urgently and quickly. We must pull out all the stops across all local authorities, housing agencies, NAMA and anyone else who has property.

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