Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Ellis stated that no funding has been allocated for homelessness in Dublin. I want to make it clear that there is a 20% increase in the allocation of funds to address homelessness for Dublin. In 2015, an allocation of €37.16 million was provided. What is identified in the projections of Dublin City Council is that increased funding will be required. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, and I have not stated that funding will not be provided. Our officials are engaged with Dublin City Council to ensure that adequate resources are provided. I reassure the Deputy that is a priority for Government. It is not fair to say that the Government is not providing funding for homelessness. In fact, we have provided 20% more, both nationally and in Dublin, for homelessness services and the provision of units than we did last year.

Deputy Boyd Barrett asked if any local authority comes forward with any land whether it would be funded. The Department wrote to the local authorities seeking their lists of priorities. We must look for value for money and we must build where there is a demand. There is no point in having an open-chequebook approach. We saw where that got us in the past, building houses for the sake of building houses. We are using data analysis from the likes of the Housing Agency to inform us where is the demand. Obviously, the main urban areas are where the biggest demand arises and that is where the priority funding is going. If local authorities come forward with ten or 12 projects and the top four or five are shovel-ready, they will be prioritised. That is the way it is happening. We have already prioritised shovel-ready projects. The next ones we are prioritising are those in the planning system under Part VIII. We will continue to roll out allocations as local authorities come to us with their priorities, and we are encouraging local authorities to be as ambitious as possible. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, and I have ring-fenced as much funding as we could in the first year for an ambitious social housing strategy and I assure the Deputy that we want to see the delivery of that as much as anybody else.

There should be a fair and level playing field for sites of high potential irrespective of who owns them. We want them brought back into beneficial use. It is logical. These are value for money and they will regenerate communities and urban areas for the benefit of citizens who wish to live there. I am opposing these amendments.

See this speech in context