Dáil debates

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Homelessness: Motion [Private Members]

 

3:20 pm

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

It is unfair to those providing services, including NGOs, local authorities and AHBs, for Members to give the impression that nothing is improving. It is not true. It has been repeatedly alleged that the Government only wishes to use private housing but that is not true either. A building programme is in place to increase the stock of social housing by 50,000 over the next three or four years. More than 20,000 social houses have been delivered since we began the programme two and a half years ago and more than 50,0000 will be delivered by the time it is completed. The Government is committed to going beyond that provision but it will take time to do so. It will not happen overnight, although I wish it did as it would make my job and that of the Minister far easier.

Deputy Ó Broin stated that the Government is doing nothing to solve the long-term problem of housing waiting lists because there are 70,000 on them and that number is growing every year. The Sinn Féin housing plan, which has only been worked out on paper and has not been tested, aims to deliver fewer houses than the Government plans to provide. Sinn Féin wants to deliver 100,000 houses. Our plan, which has been funded and put into action, will deliver 120,000 houses. The sites have been identified and services are being provided. The necessary funding has been allocated to the plan and it will deliver houses. It is more difficult for the Government because we must do things for real. It is easy to draw up a plan. However, the Sinn Féin plan proposes to deliver fewer houses than the Government intends to deliver. We need to have an honest conversation about what everyone hopes to achieve and get real about what can be delivered.

On voids, I wish to clarify that approximately 1,760 properties belonging to local authorities and which had been lying empty were brought back into usage last year. A figure of 560 was used for the purposes of recording delivery of new accommodation because the Government was accused at the housing committee a couple of years ago of massaging the figures by counting voids as new properties. As a result, the Minister changed how the figures were recorded. He parked the properties originally allocated under Rebuilding Ireland and numbering approximately 560. However, the reality is that 1,760 were brought back into use.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan raised the issue of voids in Limerick. Funding has been allocated to that issue. Limerick City and County Council is doing great work on housing. There is a significant volume of activity and many properties are being delivered. However, there is an issue regarding some voids, which are a little more costly to deliver than the norm, but that will be sorted out. I hope that they will soon be back in use. Many void properties remain in Dublin and elsewhere and they will be brought back into use. Thankfully, the local authorities in most counties have brought their voids back into use. There has been much progress. There should not be any empty stock belonging to the State.

On Donegal, the picture painted by Deputy Pringle is a little different from that depicted by others. I do not accuse the Deputy of misrepresenting the facts. However, yesterday I met representatives of Donegal County Council yesterday who were very clear in terms of the delivery of housing in the county and the various options they are pursuing. They are making great progress. We accept this is not just an urban problem. The required funding has been allocated. If additional or out-of-hours services are required in Donegal, that can be considered. The funding is available for such measures and there should be no difficulty putting them in place. The picture painted by the Deputy is a little different from that presented by Donegal County Council or other representatives of the area. We must ascertain the true position. If certain services are required, I am happy to ensure they are put in place.

Reference was made to the situation in County Laois . The perception was given that there is no money for housing there. I met representatives of Laois County Council yesterday and made it very clear, as did the Minister, that money is available for emergency services, acquiring more properties, building more new houses, buying vacant properties and so on. The local authority did not tell us that it is short of money. We recognise that the homelessness and emergency accommodation problems are spread across the country and do not only affect cities. We do not differentiate between rural and urban areas. We know there are difficulties in rural areas. When I was appointed to this post two years ago, I met representatives of rural areas and told them that homelessness would also become a problem in rural areas and that we should put plans in place to deal with that. We are happy to have family hubs and other forms of emergency accommodation in all counties but the local authorities must request them; they are in charge. Money is available to make it happen.

I do not deny that there is a problem in housing - nobody does - but housing supply has increased. When the Action Plan for Jobs was being discussed three years ago, many Members said the jobs in the plan were not real jobs. Unfortunately, in those days I could not bring people to see the jobs. I am glad that I can now bring Members to all of the sites on which work is under way. Houses are being built. Families are living in houses provided under the plan. I have no problem with Members wanting more housing delivery. We all want more houses to be delivered. The job of the Government is to make that happen. We must ensure that houses are being built on the 251 active sites and that the required infrastructure is being provided.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan referred to Mr. Mel Reynolds and the State land in Dublin which he claims is suitable for housing. If one examines his claims, one will discover that he identifies green space, parks and many other types of land as potential sites for construction. It is not all suitable for housing. A Member quoting an expert should be sure to understand what the expert is saying. We want to use any suitable and available land for housing. We are using State-owned land to deliver more housing. The housing activity of local authorities is eight times what it was two and a half years ago but we have asked them to double or treble that. Members must acknowledge that doing so involves putting teams, personnel and infrastructure in place and ensuring that taxpayers' money to fund it is available. It does not happen overnight but they are committed to doing it because I agree with Members that local authorities should build houses. They want to do so but they are also required to provide housing using the other streams. They are doing so and they are delivering.

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