Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputy Ó Broin and Deputy Mitchell for raising this issue and for putting forward constructive proposals regarding it.

As we are all aware, last night Dublin city councillors voted by 48 votes to 14 not to transfer lands at Oscar Traynor Road as part of a development agreement to deliver 853 homes on the site. That was a democratic decision of the local authority members. If I may, I would like to provide the House with some context on this matter, as I understand it. This site has been vacant since the late 1970s and had long been prioritised for housing development by the council via its housing land initiative, as was mentioned by Deputy Ó Broin, together with sites at O'Devaney Gardens and Emmet Road, Inchicore.

The approach and tenure mix for the delivery of homes on the site had been progressed by the council on the basis of 50% of the homes being private, 30% social and 20% affordable, that is, 428, 253 and 172 homes, respectively. This approach had been agreed by the council's housing strategic policy committee in 2016 and by the full plenary council in January 2017 by 58 votes to four. The council executive confirmed its view to the council members, in advance of its vote last night, that an exhaustive process has been undertaken in recent years and the delivery model, itself agreed by councillors, was considered the most effective way to develop the site, both in terms of mixed tenure and from a financial perspective. The executive outlined the complexity of bringing such a large-scale site to this point given the specific resources and expertise required, which the council does not have on an in-house basis. It also pointed out the substantial legal, planning and, above all, financial risks associated with undertaking a development of this scale.

The council's executive confirmed that, using the leverage afforded by State-owned lands, it proposed entering into a comprehensive development agreement with the preferred bidder. In addition to the value of the land being reflected in the reduced cost of the works, Dublin City Council would have received payment of the sum of €14 million from the developer as part of the public procurement process, with strict conditions around planning and development, including a commitment to facilitate local employment. This money would be invested in the city with a significant portion of it ring-fenced for the Oscar Traynor Road environs.

In deciding not to progress with this proposal, the council executive has suggested that the delivery of homes in Oscar Traynor Road may now be set back for quite some time. There was a comment from Mr. Brendan Kenny reported in today's edition of The Irish Timesthat the delay could perhaps be up to eight years. This would be most regrettable, especially in view of the fact that this area has the highest social housing waiting list in the State. One point on which we can all agree is that given the time spent by the council on progressing this site to date, it is critical that it is developed for housing as soon as possible.

Five months ago, we launched the programme for Government, which includes a range of commitments, including the prioritisation of increased supply of public, social, and affordable homes; to increase the social housing stock by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new builds; to progress a State-backed affordable home purchase scheme to promote home ownership and; to ensure that local authorities are essential to the delivery of housing.

The Government has since backed these objectives in budget 2021, with €3.3 billion being made available for the delivery of housing programmes. This overall investment will see the social housing needs of over 28,500 households being met in 2021. This includes 12,750 new social homes to be delivered through build, acquisition and leasing programmes. Capital funding of €468 million was specifically provided to cover affordability measures including: a new national affordable purchase shared equity scheme; a new cost-rental equity loan facility to help deliver cost rental homes; and services sites funding.

My Department is working with local authorities, approved housing bodies and other key stakeholders towards the expansion and acceleration of delivery of social and affordable housing. My Department has consistently supported Dublin City Council's efforts to advance proposals, including funding the cost of all the 253 social homes on the site. In addition, at up to €50,000 per home, serviced site funding of up to €8.6 million was made available to the council to help subvent the delivery costs of the more affordable homes. My Department remains ready to support the council to deliver this important strategic site.

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