Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This issue is quite important because of the amount of potential social housing that was available and is no longer available. In December 2011, the National Assets Management Agency, NAMA, announced it would facilitate the provision of units for social housing over a period of time. A steering group was established, comprising the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, NAMA, the Housing Agency, housing authorities and approved housing bodies with the purpose of achieving this objective. It achieved its objective and NAMA put together a property portfolio of 6,574 units, all of which were offered to the 31 local authorities in which the properties were located. One of the most bizarre features of the housing crisis is that only one third of those units were taken by the local authorities despite the fact that NAMA had approved all of those houses. It had been done in consultation with the various other relevant bodies and agencies and the list had been compiled for the specific purpose of making a portfolio of social housing available. It is bizarre that this happened in the middle of a homelessness and overcrowding crisis.

Of the 6,574 units, 4,048 were refused by the local authorities for one reason or another. Of the 2,526 units that were confirmed, not all are occupied at present - 1,600 have been either contracted or delivered, 486 are still under negotiation and 440 are still under consideration, in other words, they have not even got to the stage of contractual arrangements. The remaining 4,048 are no longer under consideration by the local authorities and, by and large, have been disposed of otherwise by NAMA because the local authorities did not want them.

According to NAMA, the reasons for rejection by the local authorities fell into four categories - 1,130 were recorded as "no demand"; 1,175 were recorded as "no sustainable communities"; 84 were not suitable; and 1,579, the largest number, had been available but were no longer available after they were refused. Some 6,574 units could have made a huge difference to the housing crisis - 4,048 units would have made a real difference, but they have now gone to the private sector. The private sector's benefit is the State's loss. The only conclusion one can come to is that a wonderful opportunity to address the homeless situation has been squandered and lost forever.

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government should demand a detailed explanation from each local authority as to why they did not avail of the NAMA offer. One should not forget that this was not done in isolation: it was done with the Department, the housing authorities and the housing agencies. It is incredible that some local authorities did not accept even one offer from NAMA - not one unit that was made available was accepted by some of the local authorities. It boggles the mind that in current circumstances we find that we could have dented the worst problems of the homeless crisis and could have dealt with it very easily by availing of all the units that were available. We now find ourselves in a situation in which the private sector has snapped up those units because the public sector, through the local authorities and the Housing Agency, has not bothered to do so.

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