Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem of affordable housing is complex, and no single measure can promise a comprehensive solution. Last July, when speaking on this topic in the House, I stated that there are certain risks with some proposals and there will be unintended consequences but we must take those risks in the interests of the thousands of families across the country that do not own their own home or do not have a roof over their heads tonight.

I accept that concerns have been expressed in many quarters that the shared equity scheme would push up house prices and none of us want to see that. However, on this measure we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The principle behind this shared equity scheme has significant merit and the Minister should be given the opportunity to develop a tailored scheme to meet our needs and then present them to the Dáil for approval.

As an initial pilot, the shared equity scheme should be about getting families out of our cities, where housing and services are in such demand, and instead supporting people to bring life back into remote rural communities. The scheme should be used to allow first-time buyers to purchase an existing property in a town or village with a significant residential vacancy rate. If this were implemented, it would encourage people to settle and live in regional areas, bringing life back into vacant homes and enhancing local communities.

The Minister will say that the Department has already made provision for such an approach through the repair-and-leasing scheme, and the buy-and-renew initiative. However, the reality is that is not happening in the communities with large vacancy rates because the local authorities claim they do not have demand for housing on their social housing lists and therefore will not purchase or refurbish houses in those locations. However, if we are to deal with the challenges of housing in our cities, in particular in Dublin, as well as the challenges of congestion, we must recognise that building more houses in Dublin alone will not solve our problem. While I accept that is needed, it is not the only solution because we need to bring about regional balance.

As well as building housing in high-demand areas, such as Dublin, we must consider taking immediate steps, including bringing families into established communities where the taxpayer has already paid for infrastructure such as broadband, schools, roads, water and sewage treatment facilities. Infrastructure like schools is already in place in many parts of the country but the big problem in these locations is depopulation and we do not have the students to fill those places. We need to address that imbalance and this scheme could be used as a tool to do that.

At present the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is forking out €30,714 on average for a new serviced site in our cities, putting the infrastructure in place so that housing - mainly private housing - can be built. That money could be saved if we were to use the shared equity scheme as a pilot to bring life back onto the streets of villages and towns where a football has not been kicked for a generation, where high-speed broadband is already in place, where the schools have vacancies and where the infrastructure already in place is underused, instead of just putting fuel on the fire in our cities. While I accept spending €30,000 is important in putting the roads, water and wastewater facilities into sites in Dublin, it is then necessary to make the investment in schools and other infrastructure which is already in place in towns and villages.

There are 1.75 million homes in this country. It is conservatively estimated that 50,000 of them vacant, many in my constituency and other rural areas. The Minister should consider using this scheme to target those homes. Some of them are in areas of high demand but some are in regional locations, including my constituency.

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