Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this motion and the Opposition's tabling of it. Were resources the resolution to the problem, we would have the resolution in our hands. For the first time in a number of years, the State is in a position to commit the level of funding required to address the issue. This was not the case five years ago when the Government came to office or even three years ago, but with the improving economy, we are now able to address the problem financially.

The countryside was littered with houses five years ago. This was the case to a lesser extent four years ago and to an even lesser extent three years ago. In the past two years, we have been caught by an unprecedented level of demand and a collapse in supply. Kickstarting the building process is not easy, but the Government is grappling with it. While I welcome the commitment of resources, more will be needed to resolve the issue.

I wish to raise a local issue. During the week, the Minister announced €7.4 million for 34 new social housing units in Ballincollig. This is welcome. I hold a clinic three times per week in Ballincollig, which is the largest town in County Cork. The lack of social housing opportunities there and the circumstances in which many people find themselves living are profoundly depressing. This investment will help and will form part of the solution, but we must address a more fundamental problem. In light of the scale of the challenge that we face, could we get better value for the €7.4 million? Were someone more competent in the market than I charged with spending €7.4 million in the morning, I suspect he or she would probably buy 60 houses. The issue is whether they would meet modern building standards. Is there a case to be made for a trade-off? For example, I might buy a three-bedroom semi-detached house on a village main street in County Cork for €70,000 and invest €30,000 in it. It might meet the minimum safety requirements but not the new building standards. Is this an acceptable response to what is a national emergency? We need to have this debate. I believe it is acceptable. We must challenge local authorities and permit them to consider a range of options, to go to the marketplace and to buy as well as build. They are doing some of this, but not enough. There is great value to be found in certain segments of the market.

I was a member of Cork County Council and am an admirer of its endeavour, but when I had occasion recently to bring to its attention two former local authority houses that were for sale privately, it told me that it was not interested in purchasing them. One was in Charleville and the other was in Ballincollig. Both could have been bought for substantially less than the €220,000 per unit that we are now approving. In the face of an unprecedented crisis, we need to think outside the box. Solutions do exist.

There are plenty of vacant houses in the country. It is true they are not always where demand is greatest but we can challenge local authorities to ensure better value for money by providing a quicker option to address the needs of many families than that involving a cost of €220,000 per unit. We need to examine this.

We need to validate the lists. I was lobbying recently on behalf of an individual seeking a local authority house in Macroom and discovered it was offered four times recently before it was offered to the individual, who was screaming for it desperately. There are people on local authority housing lists who certainly do not want a social house. They need to be in that position to maintain their HAP or rent allowance. We need to validate the lists and determine who is and who is not looking for social housing as a solution to their being on a housing list. Unless we are building a policy based on real facts indicating the true level of demand for social housing, we are at nothing.

This issue is multifaceted. Resources are not the issue. Delivery, building, purchasing and validating social housing lists are all part of the solution. I welcome very much the commitment of €7.4 million in Ballincollig. It is but a drop in the ocean of what is needed but I am satisfied that the Government is committing the resources. We need local authorities, builders and developers to partner with the State in addressing this problem. I am sure we can deliver a solution. For the first time in five years, because of a prudent management of the economy and the building of a recovery, we are in a position to resource social housing, which was not done under previous Governments.

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