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

These are the choices that we have to make. In the budget, which Deputy Pringle opposed, we provided for a further 15,000 new HAP tenancies. I do not necessarily want to do that but I have to make provision for it if we are to stop people going into homelessness. Instead, we are transitioning to public homes, with the largest building programme in the history of the State for next year. We supported that. It is what this coalition and I, as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, are bringing forward.

In the short term, while we are dealing with the pandemic, we have ensured that our construction sector will keep going through levels 4 and 5. I commend it and all those workers in the sector who have shown an unbelievable degree of flexibility, working under tough conditions. They have endured and the sector has shown that it is able to adapt. The safety of those workers has to be paramount. It is important that we do not fall further behind with our housing delivery. The sector is staying open with the workers' agreement. The safety measures on the sites that I have visited have been exceptional. There are protocols in place should there be any further breakdowns in any of those sites. We are focused on delivering public homes for our people and affordable homes, both for rental and purchase.

We are adding further protections for our tenants. If one looks back at the Act and the Bill that I brought in here in the convention centre at the end of July, it has worked and is working. The Residential Tenancies Board and its numbers will tell Deputies that it is working. Up until the last quarter, only 177 people had sought those protections. They may not have sought those protections for two reasons, first, because there may not have been a need to seek protections, and second, because we need to provide more information about it. At present, 450,000 circulars are going to tenants and landlords throughout the country, advising of the new rights and protections that they have.

In reply to a question asked by a number of Deputies, I personally engage with the Simon Communities, Focus Ireland, Threshold and tenant advocates all the time. We have formal meetings on homelessness services delivery and how we can strengthen tenancy rights.

I genuinely welcome the support Opposition Members have shown for this legislation. It will be effective. It will also mean that should there be further restrictions, which we all hope will not be required, these measures will come back into effect. It adds to the protections we introduced last August. There are 13 or 14 amendments and we will discuss each of them on Committee Stage. I will discuss them in the spirit in which they were put forward, which is a genuine desire on the part of Members to put forward their views on how they believe this legislative measure may be improved. I will listen to the arguments that are made on that Stage.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan mentioned the more vulnerable communities in our society, referring to the Traveller community and the new Irish community. I am acutely aware of that. I will not go into detail here, and Members will understand the reasons. I am engaged directly, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, with organisations regarding Traveller accommodation, in particular, and what further measures we must take to help the Traveller community through the Covid crisis. We have provided significant additional funding in that regard. Just last week, I had a number of telephone conversations with representative groups. I take the point the Deputy made very seriously. We must ensure that those who are more vulnerable to this virus are protected.

That includes those in our homelessness services. The budget this year provides €218 million for homelessness services in 2021 to address homelessness. It will go to expanding Housing First, which most Deputies on all sides of the House see as a worthwhile and effective mechanism to help those who are most vulnerable in the homeless community, with addiction and mental health issues, and to provide wraparound services and supports. I and the Government are committed to expanding Housing First, and we will do that. We have secured the funding to do it. Currently, we are carrying out an evaluation and looking at the targets for different parts of the country into which we can expand Housing First. My absolute priority is reducing the numbers of families and individuals who are homeless in every city, town and county of the Republic. We will continue to do that. I am acutely aware, right down to county level, of the challenges the local authorities face, but we will not be found wanting with the funding and assistance we provide in that regard.

Another reason I put out the call for housing last July was to ask the local authorities, on an exceptional basis, to source single properties. These are for larger families. Some 50 larger families have been homeless for over four years and 73% of the adult homeless community are single people. We do not have enough property for single people. That is relevant to design into the future and how we design our estates, but we must deal with the issue now. The funding in the budget is €218 million, an increase from €168 million in 2020. That is significant and gives us a fighting fund to combat homelessness.

First and foremost, however, the Government and all Members of the Dáil must continue to work together on behalf of our citizens to ensure they are safe during this pandemic. That is the purpose of the legislation before the House. It balances the rights of those who own property. We must acknowledge those rights. Some Members may not agree that this should be the case and believe that one can set aside constitutional rights. I respect Bunreacht na hÉireann. All legislators should, and I am assuming all do. However, one cannot just pick and choose from it. It is not a pick and mix. It is the Constitution and one must abide by it. The laws we make in the Oireachtas must abide by Bunreacht na hÉireann.

This Bill has been well crafted with the assistance of the Attorney General, his office and, in particular, the staff in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. I thank the members of the team there for the work they have done late into the night on bringing forward a robust legislative measure that will add to the armoury and protection we have for tenants. I am acutely aware of my responsibility to try to keep people safe during this pandemic, particularly tenants and those in the homeless and other communities. We will do everything we can to achieve that. When I was in the Chamber in July I told colleagues that if we needed to do more in terms of protections, I would return to the House with further legislation and do that. That is what I am doing tonight with the support of my colleagues in the Green Party and Fine Gael.

If we have to do more as this pandemic progresses, and we all earnestly hope we will see the back of it soon, I will return to the Dáil and Seanad and further strengthen protections, should that be required. It must be proportionate. I thank colleagues for their contributions. I have listened and taken notes. I look forward to the Committee and Remaining Stages in which we can debate the amendments proposed by Members.

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