Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Members who made a contribution to this debate. There were some very constructive contributions and others that were not so constructive. There is no doubt that this issue extends beyond party politics. We all need to work towards solutions and that is what our people expect and need.

I assure all the Members that the Minister and I are absolutely committed to dealing with housing. Only today, we met all local authority chief executives and directors of housing from all around the country to discuss their plans and ensure solid progress will be made on the implementation of the social housing strategy. We must remember that the local government sector comprises the housing authorities, and they have assured us that they are absolutely committed to delivering on the targets they have been set. These targets concern the projects they themselves submitted to us for approval. These projects have been approved. They are shovel ready in every local authority area in the country.

In the relatively short period I have to conclude the Government's contribution to this debate, I will try to focus on the key issues that arose during the Members' contributions over the past two evenings. With regard to homelessness, in the short term while housing supply is being ramped up and while the modular housing and other proposals are being developed further, a range of measures is being implemented to address the current homelessness issue and prevent further cases from arising.

With regard to tenancy protection, the tenancy sustainment protocol, operating in conjunction with Threshold in the Dublin and Cork city areas, continues to provide supports to persons in urban areas where supply problems are most acute. Over 1,200 of the 4,000 cases dealt with were supported with increased rent supplement limits on a case-by-case basis. Plans are actively under way to extend this protocol to Galway city, and officials from the Department of Social Protection are engaging on this with the council in Galway and Threshold.

With regard to the allocation of local authority tenancies, the ministerial direction issued by the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, which requires local authorities to prioritise the homeless and vulnerable householders in the allocation of tenancies under their control, has been extended and will apply until 31 January 2016. A high-level task force on social housing and homelessness, chaired by the Secretary General of the Department, meets weekly to oversee the identification and delivery of properties to accommodate homeless families in the Dublin region. This process has overseen the delivery of a NAMA property recently, an apartment block in south Dublin that is now operating as a 65-unit homelessness facility with a single assessment centre for the homeless families. The acquisition of approximately 100 units, which will be ring-fenced for homeless households, is currently in progress.

With regard to the local authority housing programme, I have already said and repeated today to the chief executives that the funding has been allocated. The project proposals submitted by the local authorities in all areas have been approved, but now we need to see them delivered.

I agree with speakers on boarded-up units in local authority ownership. It is not acceptable that they lie vacant when funding is being made available for them. I acknowledge that in the past, local authorities did not have the funding to do up the vacant units and bring them back into beneficial use. The required funding is now being provided and the chief executive officers of the local authorities are now committed to eradicating the voids in their jurisdictions, which voids have been referred to by many Deputies.

A significant programme of returning void local authority units to productive use is now in operation nationally and specifically in the Dublin City Council area, where approximately 500 units have been brought back into use to date this year. A further 180 projects are in progress and another 257 are planned. Over 2,300 void units were brought back into use last year. Funding for approximately 2,500 units is in place for 2015. Therefore, it is not fair to say there is no action on voids. The record speaks for itself.

Deputies might want to double-check their figures on voids because the picture painted today by the chief executives of the authorities offers a completely different perspective from theirs. There is a challenge for all of us. Local authorities are being funded. We said to them specifically today that if they have more voids that need funding, they will get it. I encourage Deputies to ask the chief executive officers and their local authorities to make their submissions. We are considering how we can streamline and shorten the local authority project delivery process.

Regarding what NAMA can deliver, 1,400 houses and apartments were delivered to local authorities and approved housing bodies for social housing use, and they are on track to deliver 4,500 new residential units in the greater Dublin area by the end of 2016.

There is much more I would like to say but I am constrained by the time limits. The Government is determined to deal with this crisis. As with everybody else, we understand the challenges that families face. We are representative of the very same families as the Deputies opposite. It behoves all of us, including the Opposition, Government, local authorities, councillors and society in general, to respond to this crisis in a proactive way because the people who need the houses are depending on us to deliver them. We will do all in our power to provide the funding but we need local authorities, approved housing bodies and everybody to get behind the effort to ensure we deliver the houses the people so badly need.

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