Dáil debates

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Housing and Homelessness: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

 

7:10 pm

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Members for their contributions to the debate. As my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, outlined in his opening statement last night, housing and homelessness are top priorities for the Government. Ultimately, a lack of supply is at the heart of the problems we face. The Government has brought forward a suite of policies to increase the supply of all forms of housing; provided €1.7 billion in successive budgets and introduced policies to stabilise the rental market while supply ramps up. Perhaps I might correct the record in respect of some misinformation given by Deputy Joan Collins who stated the Government's target was to deliver 200 units next year. In fact, more than 200 multi-unit projects have already been approved and are under way around the country and more will be approved in the coming weeks.

We are working across government to ensure the vision of every household to have access to secure, good quality, affordable housing is delivered. Funding is not the issue. The Government is providing the funding needed and the challenge is to deliver housing units across the various forms.

For the information of the House, I recently met ministerial colleagues from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England who face the same challenges and problems as we do. We are sharing experiences. They are taking on board some of the initiatives we are introducing to maximise the supply of new housing units.

The €70 million budget secured for homelessness services next year represents an increase of 32% on the 2015 allocation of €53 million and a 55.5% increase on the 2014 allocation of €45 million. The delivery of 500 units of modular housing for homeless families across Dublin in the next few months will also make a real and tangible difference for people who currently have inappropriate commercial hotel arrangements. It will also allow better access to support services. I acknowledge the work of the Dublin Homeless Executive which has managed to assist more than 730 families to exit homelessness in the past year. However, we still need to do more. In the short term we are turning around thousands of voids per annum. This was not done in recent years. We are approving direct acquisitions by local authorities and approved housing bodies and leasing housing units. This is the fastest way to deliver units to home families. In the medium to long term we are approving the capital programmes in the various local authorities. As the Minister outlined last night, measures have been taken to stabilise the private rental market. I do not intend to go over them again, except to say they will strengthen and sustain tenancies.

The Government recognises its key role in the provision of social housing and has returned the State to a central position in supply through the social housing strategy. In this regard, it recognises the need for a significant increase in the market housing. There are some positive indicators of activity, with a significant number of planning applications going through the system. For example, at the end of quarter two in 2015, planning permissions were granted for more than 3,000 new homes, an increase of 87% on the figure for the same period last year. Converting these permissions into starts and ramping up further to reach the 25,000 per annum unit requirement represent the challenge for the construction sector leaders. The Government has clearly signalled its determination to see a strong supply of development land and housing being provided to meet demand.

This Government has put in place a multifaceted set of responses to deal with the breadth of issues we face. These include a funding commitment of €1.7 billion in successive budgets; a €2.9 billion capital commitment to 2021; an overall commitment to deliver the social housing strategy by 2020 at a total cost of nearly €4 billion in capital and current funding; 300 additional housing staff in local authorities and rising; €500 million in allocations to local authorities and approved housing bodies for the construction and acquisition of over 2,900 units out to 2017; €91 million worth of housing investment across a range of housing schemes to bring vacant social housing units back into productive use; 2,500 voids delivered in 2014 and another 2,500 projected for completion this year; €70 million for homeless services in 2016; and 500 planned modular homes. This is a comprehensive response from Government. Houses cannot be built overnight but we are putting in place every measure to deliver as many houses as possible as soon as possible.

This debate will continue. It is important that we continue to debate the issues around housing but please be assured that this Government is treating it as a top priority. We have secured the funding and it is now down to delivery across the various facets.

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