Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for clarifying that.

I have heard many claims from the Opposition this evening about housing policy and about what my Government's motivation is in how we can supply and build more homes for our citizens, particularly those who need them the most. I have heard the Opposition look to paint many pictures with their words as to what is behind this amendment and what is motivating the policies of the Government as we try to respond to the needs in our country which we know are great and as to how we can build more homes more quickly and more affordably. I want to contrast the claims of the Opposition with the reality of what I have seen this Government deliver, such as the reality of what is happening on Dominick Street, a housing project off the top of O'Connell Street delivered by Dublin City Council, delivering 70 new social homes for families who have been waiting for those homes for years. Those homes are now being built. Out of the 70 homes that will be delivered and that are being built, which I had the privilege of visiting a few days ago, 40 will be used to rehouse tenants who were living in other Dublin City Council accommodation on Dominick Street, with 30 of the homes going to families who have been waiting for houses to be built by the State.

That is what is happening at the heart of the city. It is an example of the kind of direct building of new homes being undertaken by Dublin City Council on behalf of the Government. It does not stop there. Another example of what is happening is the cost rental scheme that was opened today by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, which is all about collaboration between the local authorities - between the State - and also the private sector, at times, to deliver more homes for people in a way that delivers rent that is affordable. That is the first example of a project like that. I appreciate that so many have waited for so long for progress like this, but it is happening with more homes like that to follow, under this Government due to the funding we will make available to it and the policies we will implement. An example of the change that will come was agreed by the Cabinet this week, the Shanganagh housing project. It will be a really important project of different types of housing and tenures, all built or enabled by the State, by this Government.

These points are all worth making because I hear charges of a free for all, if not tonight then at other points, of this Government only being interested in the market developing and meeting the housing needs of those whose needs we have to meet. Those claims do not stack up against the reality that the largest builder of homes in the country is the Government, through local authorities, either directly through them or through approved housing bodies, examples of which are the projects I just mentioned. The amount of money being made available to local authorities which they use directly or through approved housing bodies is growing weekly, monthly and by the year, to deliver more homes. I know that for so many, those homes are not coming quickly or affordably enough or at the scale they want but that is what the Government is working to address. Through existing policies which we will strengthen in the coming weeks and months, we will meet more of the housing needs from families and people for affordable homes and rent, and for more homes to be built via local authorities as well as more homes to be built by the private sector for those who are able to buy and own them in their entirety. This is about the Government and the economy - public and private sectors - co-ordinated by this Government working to deliver more homes as quickly as we can. Behind the figures I mentioned is a new home being built, a house or apartment, through a local authority or approved housing body to meet the needs we know have to be met. I hope that despite everything that happened last year and this year, we may yet get to build between 16,000 and 20,000 homes this year.

That leads me to the role of funds which has been debated at length here and elsewhere, particularly the role they can play in the provision of rental accommodation which, I believe, in many cases would not be built otherwise. The question confronting us is for a country of our scale and the number of banks we have left, and the need to deliver over 30,000 homes annually, to get that up to 40,000, at a cost of at least €12 billion to €16 billion annually, whether there is a role for the savings and pensions of other countries, of other workers being co-ordinated into the provision of new accommodation in Ireland. Whatever names are given to the funds that operate in the market, there is a big question which the Opposition is yet to answer: if we acknowledge that we need to build homes at scale and at speed, and that there is a burning need for the supply of new homes to be quickly accelerated, and what the Government is already doing with the money it has made available with the accelerated plans in local authorities and approved housing bodies, is there a role for the private sector within this, particularly in the provision of rental accommodation? If the Opposition takes the view that funds have no role at all in providing this accommodation then this raises the question it has yet to answer, namely, how that rental accommodation will be provided, particularly in the context of how many homes-----

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