Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will check the record. The Government and Taoiseach now claim, as usual, that the social housing strategy is working, something which could not be further from the truth. Fewer than 274 homes have been built since 2015, 90% of which were provided by social housing agencies and 28 by local authorities. The Government claimed during the course of the election that 30,000 keys were handed over to applicants last year, something which is factually incorrect and untrue - the Taoiseach can call it what he likes. Up to 8,000 of those people comprised those who were moved from one scheme to another, such as from an RAS to a HAP scheme. The Government may not like it, but it is the truth and it was found out.

For the record of the new Dáil, it is incumbent on us as Members to again inform the record of the House of the situation we are facing, given that we are in the midst of an emergency. Some 750 families are homeless, 1,700 children are living in emergency accommodation and there are 3,500 homeless households in the country, which equates to about 6,000 individuals.

Rent supplement simply is and has been too low. I accept and expect the Taoiseach and others in the Government to reject proposals from me or anybody on this side of the House, but the Taoiseach also rejected information from the stakeholders at the coalface. The current average rent for a two-bedroom unit in Dublin 2 is €1,649, while the rent supplement threshold for a couple with one child is €835, a difference of 74%. As far back as two years ago we were told that would lead to further problems. A single person looking for a one-bedroom unit receives a supplement of €520, a differential of 170%.

The Taoiseach consistently slammed local authorities for the lack of progress on the provision of housing. The Department is not approving social housing projects for voluntary housing associations at the required pace. During the course of questions from me and others, including party leaders, I often heard the Taoiseach refer to 300 sites around the country on which homes were being built to deal with the need that we all want to see addressed.

One of the sites is supposed to be in my constituency and €3 million has been allocated for the provision of 15 or 17 houses. Ground has not been cut in the two years since that announcement was made. Does that not tell the Taoiseach that he needed to bring in the Department, ascertain what the delay was, effect the necessary change and change the archaic system and procurement process which was not working? The Taoiseach failed to do that and now proposes to solve the problem within four weeks, despite failing to listen to suggestions and proposals for the past five years.

I will repeat what I stated in our election manifesto. Whether we are in or out of government, we will use the diversity in the Chamber to allow meaningful proposals to be brought to the House to instruct the Government. If the Government will not instruct the Dáil, we will do it. We want to create a Minister for housing, planning and local government, which is not something we dreamt up having met a few rural Deputies, and a housing authority. Their first job will be to accept, acknowledge and declare a national housing emergency, something the Taoiseach and Government would not do for the past two years. That will be the obligation of the new Government, whatever its configuration.

We would seek to introduce a series of measures, whether in or out of Government. Capital funding would be provided to renovate social housing units. We will seek the passing by the Dáil of a Bill to regulate vulture funds. We would seek to renegotiate the NAMA house building plan in order to increase the number of social and affordable units to 20%, given that the previous Government reduced it to 10%. We will restore Part V to 20%, despite the fact that the Government reduced it to 10%. We would develop housing association bonds similar to those that exist in the UK. We would open strategic investment funds to facilitate private investment in housing association bonds.

I refer to the Taoiseach's attempt to make finance available to those who want to construct private dwellings and get involved in the development of private houses, a sector which was on its knees. In response to the lack of available funds, the Government joined up with an American fund - we will not call it a vulture fund for fear it is not - added €125 million to its €375 million and asked it to make funds available to the housing sector. It did not inform people that the rates the fund sought to charge were similar to those charged by the Mezzanine fund for the past number of years, that is, 16%. NAMA, which deals with people in housing difficulties, those whom the Government is supposed to represent, charged 4% or 5%. That is how shambolic the system that was allowed to develop is.

We would open discussions with credit unions on how to best utilise the €5 billion they informed the Taoiseach they are willing to invest in the housing sector. The Taoiseach left that proposal on a shelf in a Minister's Department. He brought forward directives against credit unions in regard to other aspects of their business in recent months. He never had their best interests at heart. Whether in or out of government, we will bring forward the means by which the Dáil will decide how best to utilise the funding that is available in many communities across the country.

In the next 12 months we will introduce a new refurbishment scheme for derelict vacant sites. I acknowledge what the Minister, who is speaking in an acting capacity, said about the issue and what other stakeholders have said about the myriad derelict buildings in many towns and villages throughout the country. I know property rights are associated with many of them, but there has to be a means by which compulsory purchase order legislation can be strengthened in order to utilise it to revitalise and re-energise towns and villages which have such sites available.

There could be a rental return for those who own the sites, whatever the configuration of that ownership.

We will also invest €334 million over and above the figure committed under the social housing strategy 2020 in order to build 45,000 new homes. We will allow local authorities to decide the mixture of social and affordable homes and, where feasible, undertake the Part 8 planning process for local authority lands for a mix of social and private housing. We will allow local authorities to review public procurement processes with a view to considering joint venture arrangements to support the building of social units for leasing to voluntary bodies and the sale of residential units on the open market. We will overhaul the Private Residential Tenancies Board and streamline the landlord and tenant dispute resolution process. We will strengthen tenants' rights, security of tenure and rent certainty measures. We will establish family tenure to strengthen security for families as long-term tenants.

All of these proposals seek to address the emergency, while being mindful of the fact that we have to tackle it from a public and private perspective and the perspective of the rental sector. I implore the caretaker Taoiseach and his caretaker Cabinet, in the absence of a Government being formed and this Dáil having the powers necessary to effect the change the public wants us to bring about, to wake up to the reality, declare an emergency and bring forward emergency resolutions to address it.

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