Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This Bill aims to address the obvious need for increased housing stock in Ireland. It proposes to do so by bringing together stakeholders such as local authorities, housing agencies and voluntary groups to provide services to local authorities in order to assist them in the performance of their functions. In doing so, it will provide more affordable housing for the tens of thousands of people left waiting following our economic collapse.

The initial investment of more than €1 billion under the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund offers a significant opportunity to change the landscape in terms of how we fund housing developments in this State. We must be ambitious in our goals if we are to change some of the negative traits that have developed in the housing market in recent years. I certainly hope the LDA can play an important role in that regard by providing a broad base of housing supply that will serve a wide range of people in our society and create the balance we wish to see within our communities. The development of new housing stock should not fall victim to the mistakes of the past. All developments must include adequate services and infrastructure that will meet the needs of those who reside there.

The LDA can play a significant role in helping the national effort to reduce carbon emissions. As noted in the programme for Government, the agency should be tasked with delivering low-carbon, sustainable and climate-resilient housing. This will be key in our fight against climate change as we embark on the challenge to turn the tide of the looming climate catastrophe. To emerge from this battle, we must face up to the need to change countless aspects of our lives and the system we rely upon, including how the State manages and delivers housing projects. Last year saw many of us spend a lot of time in our homes. This has highlighted the need for energy-efficient housing that uses heat and electricity effectively. We should not see the requirements for affordability and efficiency in housing as mutually exclusive but, instead, as intrinsically linked. I am confident that the LDA can make a positive contribution to this aspect of Irish housing provision in the future.

I am acutely aware that concerns were raised in the course of committee hearings in 2019 regarding the forerunner to this Bill. The rights of local authorities should be protected into the future, particularly with respect to non-residential land, unless otherwise requested by a local authority. The balance between legislation we pass in this House and the power of local authorities is very important. We must consider that balance carefully, particularly in regard to the use of public lands and how it affects communities across Ireland.

The Government is committed to completing the major changes that were started in recent years within the housing market. I acknowledge the point made by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that there are too many Members of this House who are too engaged in playing ideological football when it comes to housing, when the current national housing policy has, in fact, taken ideas from both their playbook and our own. That should and must be acknowledged. We all recognise the problems in the housing market and we all want the upcoming generations to have the ability to afford a home. Efficient use of our public resources will be vital to the success or failure of our efforts to reach this goal.

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