Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue which concerns thousands of citizens not just in Cork, but throughout the country. The latest official figures available relating to local authority housing lists are those which were prepared on foot of the statutory summary of social housing assessments, SSHA, carried out in September 2016 by the Housing Agency. This identified 91,600 households nationally assessed by local housing authorities as being eligible and in need of some form of social housing support. Within this number, there were 4,241 households on Cork County Council’s waiting list, which represented an 11.7% decrease on the figures from the previous SSHA carried out in 2013.

The 2016 SSHA figures are the most up-to-date official figures available on waiting list numbers. They provide the most accurate and reliable record of the number of households qualified for social housing support under the social housing assessment regulations 2011 and whose housing need is not being met in any way. The data were compiled following a common methodology across 31 local authorities and a subsequent rigorous analysis of the data collected. The current national figure of 91,600 represents the "net need" position as at 21 September 2016 and was calculated having excluded duplicate applications, households appearing on multiple lists in different authorities, households already in receipt of a form of social housing support such as the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, or the housing assistance payment, HAP, and households which have applied for transfers.

Other higher figures that have been reported in the media recently are simply not wholly accurate or reliable. For example, I note that data obtained by Deputy Ó Broin last week reported 6,948 households on the Cork County Council list. If true, this would represent a 64% increase on the 2016 SSHA data. However, these figures were not of "net" need, that is, they did not exclude the categories I mentioned earlier, namely, duplicates, persons in receipt of HAP or on transfer lists and so forth. They were essentially a snapshot of "gross" housing need at a point in time, September 2017. Clearly, these figures cannot be relied upon as they have methodological weaknesses.

The Department's summary process, which involves all local authorities working together with the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, to a common set of rules, delivers the most accurate and up-to-date count of those households most in need of social housing support across the country. I am emphasising this point not out of some misguided defensiveness but because it is absolutely vital that the unprecedented level of Government investment in social housing delivery over the lifetime of the Rebuilding Ireland action plan is targeted in the most efficient and effective way possible. We must have data on which we can rely. The right type of social homes must be delivered in the right places to the right people as quickly as possible. It is essential, therefore, that we work off the right data to set our social housing targets over the coming years and that we adjust them as required and as circumstances change. It is for this reason that this Government has moved to producing the SSHA on an annual basis.

We need the space and time to focus on housing delivery, which must be the absolute priority over the coming few years. Time spent arguing over spurious sets of raw figures put into the public domain is time wasted. It helps nobody. Currently, the Department is finalising the results of the 2017 housing assessment summary. I expect that the data will be ready for publication within the next few weeks at the latest. This will allow the Department, in partnership with the local authorities, to plan strategically the delivery of the bulk of the €6 billion Rebuilding Ireland investment programme over the period 2018 to 2021. The early indications are that, broadly speaking, the number of households qualified for and in need of social housing support is down nationally. This shows that we are slowly moving in the right direction. Rebuilding Ireland is working. I agree that it is not as quickly and as widespread as we all would like, but the progress is positive nonetheless. In addition, the trends are also positive and moving in the right direction.

The provisional data are showing, however, that a small number of authorities have shown an increase in waiting list numbers. One of these is Cork County Council, which is likely to see a moderate increase on last year. This is something which all involved are working hard to correct in a strategic and targeted way, through the full implementation of Rebuilding Ireland.

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