John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak briefly and directly to the amendment as presented, which calls for a report on the causes of delays in the construction of housing. While the amendment is well-intentioned, I contend that many of these causes have been well researched by the all-party Committee on Housing and Homelessness, other committees and the Minister's report, Rebuilding Ireland. The bigger and more direct challenge is, having examined the causes and identified potential solutions, many of which are actions in the Minister's action plan, implementing them and monitoring the implementation in real time for progress and so forth. Specific concerns in this regard should include delays caused by the hoarding of land, a vacant site tax, around which recommendations have been made, and the interaction between local authorities and the Minister's Department. The number of stages in the process were reduced, but they need to be monitored to ensure they are done in a timely fashion. The planning process is being dealt with in the legislation, so many of the issues about which people show concern in the amendment have been identified. There have been recommendations on actions, both in the Minister's report and that of the Committee on Housing and Homelessness. The real challenge is to implement them in a timely fashion. I am not sure commissioning another report is what is needed. Monitoring and enforcing the recommendations is probably more urgent at this stage. I concur with Deputy O'Dowd that the first port of call in a housing emergency is to deal with the vacant properties we have, and I have said this before. A small percentage of vacant properties brought back into immediate use would have a massive effect, particularly for those living in emergency and homeless accommodation at the moment.

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