Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of Sinn Féin, I am very pleased to be able to support Deputy Jan O'Sullivan's Bill. As with much of the work many of us have been doing, including the Deputy, this Bill is about trying to increase the supply of social and affordable housing to tackle the acute levels of housing need and homelessness.

The Minister said earlier that the November homelessness figures indicate a drop in the number of people in Dublin who are homeless. The figures have not been published yet so we will have to wait and see. It is important to remember, however, that the figures, published monthly by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, do not include women and children in Tusla-funded domestic violence refuges, nor do they include people in new communities funded through the new communities unit of the Department of Social Protection. They do not include sofa surfers or those at risk of homelessness. Notwithstanding that, I would like to see a drop in the figures whenever they are published. We still have no official State-published figures. That is wrong. It could easily be rectified by the Departments involved.

Increasing the supply of housing is not just about what many of us do in this House. It is also about what we do in our local councils and communities. There are politicians coming into this Chamber demanding increases in social housing but actively blocking them. Alternatively, their councillors are actively blocking social housing projects in this city. That is an absolute disgrace. One is either in favour of it or against it. No matter how difficult some of the decisions are, politicians need to stand up to be counted to ensure that where houses are being proposed, no matter how difficult the associated decisions, the appropriate action is taken. Both the Labour Party, which is behind this Bill, and my party have a track record in this regard. It is unfortunate that others, including some who have left the Chamber, do not have such a track record.

One aspect of the Bill that is really good is that it opens by drawing on Article 43 of the Constitution. I say this because Article 43 is very often used as a way of not doing something or as an excuse by politicians or the Government not to take action that is required. Despite this, anybody who reads Article 43 knows that private property rights are not unrestricted and that they are conditional on principles of social justice and the common good. This is made very explicit at the start of the Bill, which is very good.

At a meeting of the housing and homelessness committee, Professor Ed Honohan discussed these matters at great length and dismissed and dispelled many of the myths about what is and is not constitutionally possible. Just because something may be constitutionally problematic is not a reason for not doing it. Sometimes forcing the matter into the courts is a way of resolving something that would otherwise be left undone. On that basis, the Minister's arguments for not supporting the changes to the compensation rules for compulsory purchase orders do not hold water.

I listened carefully to Deputy Cowen and simply do not agree with him. In certain local authorities, there are tracts of land that developers are not developing. They are not seeking to sell on the open market. Those tracts could be vital in the provision of further social housing. At this stage, particularly in light of what Article 43 states about the common good and principles of social justice, ensuring that land is not wasted and is brought into productive use to meet the chronic housing needs of many of our citizens is vital.

Thankfully, we are beginning to see some local authorities using compulsory purchase orders. That is good but they are not using them anywhere near enough. What is worse - this is not directly related the Bill but it is still worth mentioning - is that there are significant numbers of vacant properties that banks, particularly AIB and Permanent TSB, have put on offer to the Housing Agency to be funded by ourselves. Almost 1,000 properties are in this category. In response to a recent parliamentary question asked by Deputy Pearse Doherty, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, indicated funding for only 200 of those was being forwarded. At some stage, we will need to hear, from the Minister of State or the Minister, why the Housing Agency is turning down 800 much-needed vacant houses that are ready to go, primarily in the city of Dublin.

All the residential tenancies legislation amendments are eminently sensible. None of them is radical. They all propose good things that could and should happen as a matter of urgency. In our constituency clinics, we all deal with tenants whose property has been repossessed by the banks and who get a letter from the receiver. They just do not understand what is going on. In some cases, the property agents acting on behalf of the lenders also do not know what is going on. They simply do not know what the law is, and that is because there is no legal clarity on the matter. Therefore, the relevant amendment would create a considerable amount of certainty for tenants, lenders, receivers and property agents. I see no reason why it could not be accepted or included, if not tonight in a future amendment to the Bill that the Government is currently bringing through the House.

The reference rent index, the 12-month reviews and the CPI index link are all eminently sensible. I listened to Deputy Cowen on a number of occasions say that he understands how well-intentioned we are and that we all put a lot of work into this. Obviously, we all like to be patronised in that way. If one does not like the detail of the Bill but likes the principle behind it, one should accept it and amend it on Committee Stage. We have all said from the very outset of these debates that there are better ways of proceeding. The difficulty, however, is that increasingly it seems to be the case that Fianna Fáil in its housing policy is saying "Yes" to measures in principle but voting against them on the floor of this House.

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