Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin. This old Irish adage means that there is no home like one's own home. It is particularly pertinent at this time of the year. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing more emotionally affecting in this job than a constituent who makes contact with one desperately seeking help to find a home or put a roof over his or her head and the heads of his or her family. There are too many people in this country who cannot find suitable, affordable housing, and there are too many under constant strain, not knowing where they and their family will be living for the foreseeable future. We have a crisis on our hands. That much is clear but the Government has a plan to deal with it and rebuild Ireland. This Bill will help to put the plan into action. We have identified the tackling of the housing crisis as our top priority in office. We have a Minister who takes his portfolio very seriously. The Rebuilding Ireland policy document has been widely heralded as the most comprehensive strategy to ensure housing supply that a Government has ever produced in this country. We know the five pillars: address homelessness, accelerate social housing, build homes, improve the rental sector, and utilise existing housing stock. Therefore, I am very happy to see this Bill brought before the Dáil. It will facilitate the implementation of the strategy and help Ireland build more homes in the long term.

There is clearly a problem with the housing market, however. This has been identified and it is being addressed by the Government.

Ultimately, we need more houses. For those who cannot afford suitable housing in this inflationary market, they need this problem to be addressed immediately. Long-term strategies are well and good, but people need homes now. Therefore, it is heartening that the Government is introducing this Bill which will allow for the rapid delivery of major housing projects and puts the vision of the Rebuilding Ireland strategy into practice. Since the Bill will go a long way towards addressing an urgent need, I am happy to support it, although I have some concerns that I will mention.

We are already seeing the Government's efforts beginning to bear fruit. The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government's figures show an annual increase of one third in the number of houses being built in the first nine months of 2016. In combination with the launch of the help-to-buy scheme in the budget, this is a major achievement for the Government. The Bill will allow fast-track decision-making processes, which a number of Deputies have alluded to, build on current successes and facilitate the delivery of more homes at an accelerated pace. The Bill will allow the Government to reach its ambitious targets to increase the annual number of homes built to 25,000 while delivering 47,000 homes through social housing. It will help to accelerate further the building and delivery of the affordable homes that we urgently need.

In my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, I recently attended the official opening of Cromlech Close with the Minister. In the Kiltiernan-Glenamuck area of my constituency, the Government is in the process of delivering 2,000 much needed, quality homes through Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

I have some concerns over the nature of the process to be employed in the Bill's implementation. We need to deliver affordable homes and the Bill will allow us to do so at an accelerated pace. However, it is important that local concerns are not neglected. This matter has been mentioned by a number of Deputies. The bypassing of local authorities to fast-track the process has caused concern for a number of constituents and residents' associations that have contacted me. There is a number of sites in Dublin Rathdown where Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's local expertise is seen by many as invaluable in ensuring that local needs are met in the making of planning decisions. For example, we are in need of facilities to care for older people in Dublin Rathdown, but Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was able to apply its local knowledge and expertise to reject recent plans to develop a nursing home at the Badger's Glen site that would not have been fit for purpose. I will outline the reasons.

Similar concerns have been voiced about developments on Deerpark Road and elsewhere in Mount Merrion where residents are concerned that proposed developments, such as that of the Union Café, will significantly alter the character of their community. The lack of parking, recreational areas, sewerage, water pressure, open spaces and emergency access must be taken into account. Such developments are not feasible.

We need more homes, particularly in Dublin, but it is important that we bear in mind the needs of existing residents and communities when planning new housing developments. A balance must be struck between providing homes on the one hand and overdevelopment or overcommercialisation on the other. Urban environments do not have the dispersed settlements that planners have available to them in rural communities.

I am encouraged by how the Bill provides for a nine-week mandatory pre-application consultation involving the local area planning authority, whereby there will be consultation with local authorities. The Minister of State should ensure that this is communicated adequately. Local authorities will continue to have a role in the planning of large housing projects.

Will the Minister of State reassure my constituents and me that local knowledge will be taken into account in the fast-track process envisioned by the Bill and that local concerns will be duly considered, particularly in urban areas?

See this speech in context