Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In their budget speeches yesterday my colleagues, the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputies Donohoe and Michael McGrath, confirmed this Government's clear commitment, as stated in the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, to the State placing a much greater emphasis on directly building new social and affordable housing. Budget 2021 has provided the resources needed by my Department, local authorities and related agencies to follow through and deliver on that commitment. In total, my Department's Vote for 2021 will amount to over €5.118 billion, an increase of €773 million on the Revised Estimate for 2020 that was agreed in the Dáil earlier this month. The current side of the Vote is increasing by €266 million while capital spending in the Vote will grow by €507 million, a record level of funding that is indisputable.

I will now go through some of the factual, top-line figures to assist some colleagues opposite. The Department has been allocated its largest ever level of funding, which is in the region of €5.3 billion. Of that, €3.3 billion will be spent on housing, which is a 24% increase on 2020 levels and represents the largest investment in housing by any Government in any single year. The social housing needs of more than 28,500 additional households will be met in 2021 and, of that, 12,750 new homes will be added to the available supply of social housing through build, acquisition and long-term leasing. We will provide support for local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs, to deliver 9,500 new-build homes in 2021. While others might play with figures and not compare like with like, I wish to be clear that this is a 22% increase on the 2020 target of 7,736. We will be rolling out a range of affordability measures, including €110 million for a new affordable purchase shared equity scheme for first-time buyers and a new cost rental model. We will spend €218 million, an increase from €166 million in budget 2020, to ensure those experiencing homelessness are supported and helped to exit homelessness.

My Department will provide €1.4 billion for water services, and a significant increase of €65 million will facilitate energy efficiency improvements in 2,400 social homes throughout this country. We have already started that work in the midlands. A sum of €60 million is being provided to adapt the homes of up to 10,700 older people and people with special needs and disabilities. We will increase funding to €21 million for the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, local authority rental inspections, and to implement reforms for the short-term letting sector. These are badly needed additional resources. We will provide €150 million for the urban regeneration and development fund and a €192 million contribution to the local government fund. Heritage will get €95.9 million, an increase of 51%, and will be able to access the Covid-19 special fund should it be required.

This budget has provided the resources needed by my Department. Most people understand that Covid-19 has had a major impact on the delivery of social housing due to site closures and delays across design and planning that will take time to make up, but we intend to do so. Contrary to the simplistic and misleading claims of the Opposition, building is not a matter of just turning a tap on or off. Sinn Féin said it would deliver 20,000 homes next year. Where? How? Planning permission has not been granted for 20,000 homes. Where is the funding for it? Sinn Féin is happy to pluck numbers from the air to make its case sound better, but our plan is a realistic, realisable and funded one that will actually deliver. We have set ourselves ambitious targets. A total of 12,750 social homes will be delivered through build, acquisition and leasing programmes including an increase in new-build activity with 9,500 additional homes. In terms of comparing like with like, this is 1,764 more homes than the 2020 targets. This represents a clear switch from buy to build, and we have not included any voids in that figure either. The Opposition may try to belittle our targets but they are not comparing like with like. We will get on with the serious job of delivering public homes for people who badly need them.

I know that we can achieve these targets. I do not set targets of 20,000 or 30,000 for public house building and just decide that is achievable. I am listening to those with whom we will need to work to deliver on this. Immediately after my appointment, I established a high-level housing delivery group. I meet regularly with representatives of the housing and building committee of the County and City Management Association, CCMA, the housing delivery co-ordination office, the Housing Agency, the Housing Alliance and the Irish Council for Social Housing to set targets that are achievable. These targets are both ambitious and achievable. I have already taken steps to get local authorities building again. I introduced a revised single stage approval process for capital expenditure on social housing projects up to €6 million. This is a key commitment in the programme for Government and means that local authorities will have greater autonomy in constructing social housing, leading to accelerated delivery. This came into effect from 1 September. We have also allocated the single largest amount of funding for voids this year, returning 2,500 social homes to the stock. They will be allocated this year and many will be occupied this year. Furthermore, we will provide funding to bring a further 1,000 voids back into use this year.

We are absolutely focused on new builds and generating additional supply, and I have been very clear with the local authorities about the need to focus on more direct-build activity. As well as delivering more built homes in 2021, the additional housing budget secured will create a pathway for greater levels of activity in the years following - 2022 and 2023. In parallel with this we must continue to provide immediate options to support 15,800 new households to have their housing assistance payment, HAP, and rental accommodation scheme, RAS, needs met. The rug cannot just be pulled out from under the 76,500 tenancies supported through HAP. When others say that nothing is being done for renters, they are dismissing the needs of 76,500 people and the provision that is being made by this Government for a further 15,800 tenancies to prevent people from falling into homelessness.

On affordable housing, the Government believes in home ownership. We are not late converts to this game. We know it has plummeted in the past decade and is now well below the European average, and we are going to put home ownership back into reach. For those people who are outside the social housing bracket, this Government is committed to making good on its promises in 2021. The budget sets out affordability measures totalling €468 million. This does not include the very valuable help-to-buy scheme, which has been extended to the end of 2021 at a cost of €150 million. Although it has helped more than 19,500 people to buy a home, Members opposite have opposed it on a regular basis. This will spread out across our serviced sites fund, the local infrastructure housing activation fund and the Rebuilding Ireland home loan, and an additional €60 million is being poured into the Land Development Agency to activate sites this coming year. Importantly, €110 million will be provided to deliver a new national affordable purchase shared equity scheme for first-time buyers and a new funding model to accelerate the delivery of cost rental homes.

Detailed work has been undertaken on cost rental. A Bill will be brought to this House very shortly and I look forward to debating it with Members on all sides in both the Dáil and the Seanad. This is the first time a new national funding model to accelerate delivery of cost rental homes through the approved housing body sector has been announced. The new cost rental equity loan facility will allow approved housing bodies to borrow up to 30% of the cost of cost rental homes from the State, meaning the delivery of homes at significantly below market price. It will deliver at least 400 cost rental homes next year with the funding we have provided.

Homelessness must be a priority for all of us. Given it is an absolute priority for Government to drive down homelessness and provide permanent homes for people, €218 million is provided in this budget, up from €166 million. I want to thank my partners in the homeless sector who work with me every single week, every day of the week, to drive forward measures to solve our homelessness crisis. We are going to expand Housing First, which, as Members will know, given we debated this last week, is very much about meeting both the housing and health needs of individuals.

Specific funding of €21 million has been allocated to support the housing needs of members of the Travelling community and €60 million has been allocated, as I said, to fund adaptation grants which will support people, including people with disabilities, to remain in their homes.

The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, will shortly outline the Department's plans for local government and planning, and the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, will later this evening speak about the significant funding that has been allocated to heritage.

Beidh cúrsaí tithíochta chun tosaigh domsa mar Aire agus don Rialtas. Tá sé mar aidhm agam béim a chur arís ar thógáil tithíochta ag comhairlí áitiúla agus na forais tithíochta, mar na AHBs ar fud fad na tíre. Is féidir linn a bheith mórtasach as an traidisiún láidir atá againn in Éirinn tithíocht a chur ar fáil dár muintir. Tuigimid nach féidir linn brath ar an margadh amháin chun tithíocht phoiblí nó tithíocht ar phraghas réasúnta a chur ar fáil do dhaoine óga. Tógfaimid ar an dul chun cinn atá déanta againn. I mbuiséad 2021 beidh iomlán airgid breise curtha ar fáil chun timpeall 13,000 teach sóisialta a fháil sa bhliain seo chugainn - an infheistíocht is mó i dtithíocht i stair an Stáit.

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