Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this debate. Everybody from both sides of the Dáil recognises there is a housing crisis. To put it simply, there is a lack of housing stock, be it new or second-hand. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has made excellent progress to date and is the first to admit that much more needs to be done.

The Bill has a number of main provisions, including more fast-tracked planning in respect of certain developments, a further extension of existing planning permissions, amendments to Part VIII in respect of local authority-owned land, changes to the requirements for an environmental impact assessment on proposed developments, amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2015 and making provision for the Housing Finance Agency to lend to higher education institutes for the purpose of providing student accommodation. I wish to address each of these provisions individually.

I welcome the proposals on fast-track planning in respect of certain developments. As matters stand, the majority of large housing planning applications are appealed to An Bord Pleanála. It makes sense that, in order to accelerate the process, these planning applications should go straight to An Bord Pleanála. Instead of there being a two-stage process, there will be a single-stage one. In real terms, the Department estimates that the total process of obtaining planning permission can be reduced from 77 weeks to 25. This will be a major improvement and will factor into houses being brought to market more quickly. Some stakeholders have reservations about this provision. However, if the planning process is streamlined, it will be to the overall benefit of all involved.

The Rebuilding Ireland strategy committed to extending certain planning permissions that had already benefitted from one extension for a further period. The Bill's second provision tackles this commitment in respect of permissions already granted for 20 or more housing units. This provision will facilitate the early delivery of housing by removing the requirement for a developer to re-enter the planning process.

The Bill will further fast-track the delivery of housing units through the amendments to Part VIII in respect of local authority owned developments. The new provisions will mean that a local authority's own development proposal will take place at a maximum of 20 weeks from the time of public consultation. This provision will make the process more efficient, with the net effect being housing units delivered more quickly.

On a recent visit to Dundalk, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and I met the CEO of Louth County Council, Ms Joan Martin, and members of her staff. During that meeting, she outlined the situation in Louth. There are 710 vacant properties in Dundalk and a further 758 vacant properties in Drogheda. An innovative pilot scheme developed by the council under the guidance of Mr. Joe McGuinness, director of services, has already seen approval for 24 vacant properties acquired under compulsory purchase orders. Of those, two have been allocated to tenants, seven are being reburbished and 15 are at survey and tender stage. I have been calling for this innovative approach for the past eight months and I am delighted that it has proven so successful. Surely the nearly 1,500 vacant properties in County Louth present an opportunity to reduce the housing list with ready-made homes in established neighbourhoods.

During our meeting with Louth County Council, it was outlined that it had the potential to deliver more than 3,300 housing units under the local infrastructure housing activation fund. These units are planned to be delivered in Newtown and the northern environs of Drogheda and Mount Avenue in Dundalk. Louth County Council has 25 schemes at various stages of approval that will deliver almost 550 housing units in the next three to four years. The council has other substantial lands, but significant loans are attached to them. This issue needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The Minister is supportive of innovative solutions, possibly including a public private partnership, in order to free up the lands and the corresponding debts attached to them while delivering much needed housing stock.

The next provision in the Bill that I wish to comment on is the new screening arrangement for certain types of works to determine whether environmental impact assessments need to be carried out. The Bill provides that an application can be made to the planning authority, before making a planning application, on whether a proposed development is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. The main benefit of this provision is that we would be in a position to fast-track planning applications and as a result deliver much needed housing immediately.

The amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts are ones that I welcome with caution. The measures to provide more security to tenants are welcome. We must prevent a situation whereby large numbers of tenants in a single development are evicted at the same time, such as happened in Tyrrelstown this year. We must protect tenants more. We need to extend the definition of "landlord" to include receivers and lenders in respect of the repossession of a property. A tenant should not lose his or her basic rights just because the landlord is in financial difficulty.

I also welcome the provisions to improve the operation of the Residential Tenancies Board.

The speeding up of the dispute resolution timeframe, the reduction in the number of members on tribunals and the restructuring of the administration process will improve the experience of those in the private rented sector, including tenants and landlords. One area about which I am concerned relates to the amendment to allow an order of possession to be made by the District Court. I am concerned that this will simply lead to a speeding up the process of securing the vacation of dwellings. We must protect the people who will be subject to those provisions. I propose that a robust system be put in place to protect those who are affected. For example, a protocol that would allow information to be shared between the Residential Tenancies Board and local authorities could be introduced in order that local authorities would be alerted when tenants do not vacate properties due to the fact that they have not secured alternative accommodation. During pre-legislative scrutiny, the Department acknowledged this scenario and indicated that it would examine all possibilities.

I wish to briefly comment on the proposed new provisions relating to the Housing Finance Agency. I welcome the fact that it will be able to lend to higher education institutes for the purpose of providing student accommodation. Institute of technologies, such as the Dundalk Institute of Technology, DKIT, will now be able to access low-cost funding for the purpose of student accommodation and that will have the knock-on effect of freeing up valuable housing stock in places such as Dundalk.

I thank the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for the efforts he has made to date in tackling the housing crisis. It will not be solved overnight but I firmly believe that the plans he has and the actions taken to date will go a long way towards solving the housing crisis, which came about as a result of the disastrous economic policies of the previous Fianna Fáil-led Government.

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