Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The housing supply crisis that we are experiencing is the last blow-back from the economic crash.

It is often the sector that causes the crash that is the last to recover. Ultimately, the issues we face are manifest but very simple. An insufficient number of houses and apartments are being built. Last week’s ESRI report confirms that but that is not to say we are not making progress on these issues, particularly in areas for which the State has direct responsibility. We are tackling the rough sleeping problem and have recommenced social housing construction for the first time in many years.

There is a tendency to conflate various aspects of the housing issue. It is worthwhile separating them so we can focus and act on each to determine what we are doing about them. While the root cause of many of our problems is the lack of construction, it has different manifestations, each with its own complexities. Rough sleeping is the most tragic and visible manifestation of homelessness. When homelessness is mentioned, people’s minds often turn automatically to the issue of rough sleepers. During the election campaign, I recall seeing an RTE programme on emergency accommodation but which featured rough sleepers. This thinking was also evident in The Irish Times. Homelessness and rough sleeping are not the same thing. This is a complex issue, as the death of five rough sleepers in Northern Ireland so far this year makes clear. I do not know what Sinn Féin has to say about that. Undoubtedly, it will be somebody else’s fault and a further manifestation of a different attitude north and south of the Border. By contrast, the number of rough sleepers in Dublin has fallen by 46% in 12 months as a result of a 32% increase in funding for that particular aspect this year. The funding increased by 56% in two years. There is now a bed available in Dublin for anyone who chooses to use it. As Deputy Finian McGrath has said, each rough sleeper has a complex and individual case, as those of us who have dealt with individual cases know full well.

The emergency accommodation problem is the most obvious manifestation of the lack of supply in the housing market. Those who might otherwise be receiving social housing via a local authority or a rent supplement scheme find themselves in emergency accommodation in hotels or other temporary accommodation that is just not suitable. Again, this problem finds its root in the financial crash.

The very first priority for this Government when the economy began to recover was to recommence a social housing programme. Two years ago, we provided €2.2 billion in the budget. The first time we had money to spend, we spent it on social housing. Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, was the major building block of our strategy. By 2020, the aim is to provide 35,000 additional social housing units through an investment of €3.8 billion as the Minister responsible for housing said. A further 75,000 households will have their needs met by local authorities through the leasing of private rented accommodation. Over 13,000 new social housing units and social rented dwellings were delivered last year. This represents an 86% increase on unit delivery over the previous year. NAMA delivered 2,000 social housing units on top of that.

In this year’s budget, I increased the allocation for social housing by a further €125 million to €812 million, representing a 20% increase in the funding for social housing over that for the previous year. The funding provided this year will deliver a further increase in units of houses to meet social housing needs. The strategy will result in the giving of keys to 17,000 households. It will also contribute to the provision of over 5,000 new social housing units under the construction programme. In budget 2015, I announced the launch of the second phase of the Government’s PPP programme to provide for €300 million of private investment in social housing to be delivered through the PPP system and with the aim of delivering another 15,000 social housing units.

I wish to pick up the three points made in what, by and large, has been a constructive debate. Deputy Eamon Ryan referred to not enough being spent on capital generally in the past five years. We had no money and were obliged to prioritise. There was no money unless we took it from current spending, which is what the Commission wanted us to do according to reports. If we had cut social welfare, we could have had more money but that is not the choice we made.

Deputy Finian McGrath made a very valid point on there being money available from the European Investment Bank and elsewhere. It is not a question of there not being money available to borrow but of our not being able to spend it under the fiscal rules. From the sale of Bord Gáis Éireann, BGE, we have €300 million allocated for social housing but we are still looking for a vehicle allowing us to spend it on social housing within the fiscal rules. I hope there will be a consensus in the House on dealing with these challenges.

A very constructive point was made by Deputy John Curran. He referred to the absolute need to grasp one nettle, namely, the need to rebalance the constitutional rights of people who require housing with the constitutional right to own private property. That is one nettle that I hope this Dáil will tackle and put to the people.

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