Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Ó Broin has pretty much covered everything. We want to work with the Minister of State and the Department to try to get this right. There is a unique opportunity to target a cohort of people who do not qualify for social housing because they earn too much. They are over the income limits but do not qualify for mortgages from banks. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. This is a perfect example of where the State can intervene and ensure that affordable homes are built to cater for those individuals. It was disappointing that there was such a delay in publishing the legislation, given that it was announced as a key proposal in the budget last year. It was a little disappointing that the heads of Bill were first published with a bit of imagination and thought having gone into them and there was something there which one could welcome and work with but then the heads of the Bill changed to what is now published. Some of the proposals have been dropped. A more significant proposal which is now not included but which was originally included in the heads of the Bill was the one that referred to the design and credit facilities that address funding needs in the context of developing residential units and-or contributing to the diversity or types of debt-funding available for residential development in the State. That has been abandoned between the heads of the Bill and what has been published. That is regrettable.

I know there was much discussion on this legislation with the European Commission. Was that done at the behest of the European Commission during those negotiations or was it just the conservative nature of this Government coming to the fore again? Will the Minister of State explain why there is such a difference between the heads of Bill and what is now proposed? The functions now contained within the Bill lack imagination and ambition. There should be a period of reflection from the Minister of State and Department on this legislation. There has been a significant change in the functions between the heads and what has been published. There are some things that we need to work on on Committee Stage. Deputy Ó Broin has outlined our position on the Bill. We want to support an initiative like this but we have to support initiatives that will deliver for the people in dire need of housing. There is a cohort of people who cannot access truly affordable housing, who have been left behind. They cannot continue to be left languishing in private rented accommodation, paying increasing rents through the nose with no prospect of getting a mortgage from a bank, and earning too much to qualify for social housing. They are left there. We need to deal with that cohort of people. This is an opportunity to do that and I hope the Minister of State works with us in the coming weeks to make sure this Bill caters for that section of society.

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