Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. When the Government was elected to office, the economic position was very precarious. We were blocked from international markets, interest rates were 15% and we were haemorrhaging jobs by the hundred thousand. Unemployment was at 15.2%, with national debt rising and the deficit at €22.5 billion. Given the changes, decisions and sacrifices accepted by the people, we are now in a very different position and we hope to have the deficit eliminated by the end of 2017 or early 2018. That will bring about a very different scenario for the country, whoever the people decide to elect in the mean time.

I have always considered that the operation of the Government in this case involves two parties, the Fine Gael Party and the Labour Party. With respect, one of the important issues at a time of crisis was that the leaders of the parties - with a Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform working in the financial area - had regular contact, updates and dialogue, meaning that everybody knew, as the issue evolved from day to day or week to week, what decisions needed to be looked at and made. I have said it before publicly that the Governor of the Central Bank said to me that it was quite likely that in a particular week it could have been necessary to put the Army around automated teller machines and tell people that capital controls would have to be introduced, which would have been absolutely disastrous for people in Ireland. That was avoided. The purpose of the Economic Management Council was to have continuous engagement where it was necessary and appropriate. In its own way, it had an impact on keeping the discipline and character of the Government very much focused on the job we had to do.

The Deputy has raised a couple of serious issues, including homelessness. It is not acceptable that 1,500 children should not have a home to go to. It is unacceptable. The problem is that the total collapse of the construction sector meant we were coming from a very low base. As Deputies know, we were building 90,000 houses per year and that dropped to approximately 8,500 per year. It needs to be approximately 20,000 or 25,000 for a number of years in order to deal with the issue, so it will not be sorted out in the short term. Through Cabinet sub-committees and the Ministers responsible for the environment, finance and others, there have been a series of decisions about what needs to be done. Decisions were made at the Cabinet sub-committee and referenced through the Economic Management Council to the Cabinet last year in respect of homelessness and rough sleepers on the streets. These dealt with the purchase of the night café, extra resources given to homelessness housing agencies and so on. That made a big difference but the matter is now very challenging and it must be dealt with through the social housing scheme, which is nationwide, with money on the table. With regard to private rented accommodation, the Department of Social Protection is in a position to assist in each individual case where there is pressure on a tenancy. There is also the restoration of what are called "voids", or places that were not habitable; they are being done up and made comfortable for people. The Minister is proceeding to use his authority under the Acts to expedite modular housing in two tranches of 150 and 350. I hope he will have a modest number in position by the end of the year.

This is not an acceptable position. The construction sector can give a response that must be practical and incentivised, and there should be a return in that case. We have spoken about development levies and the building regulations, as distinct from planning regulations, which are completely independent. There are questions, for example, as to whether one needs two or three car spaces per bedroom in units and other issues also must be addressed, such as requirements for fire safety conditions and so on. Getting this moving is a multi-edged challenge. It is not a question of money but managing the resource to make it happen. We can consider the thousands of planning applications that contractors will not commence because there is no return because of development levies and the extent of building regulations etc. These issues must be examined. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly; his Minister of State, Deputy Coffey; the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin; and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, are working very hard in that area-----

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