Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has said this is an honest plan. There has been a lot of spin on this plan. The first bit of spin was during the launch, where there was a lot of talk about increasing home ownership levels. If this plan is implemented and meets its targets, home ownership levels will continue to decrease in Ireland. That is a fact. Incidentally, that is not for the worst of reasons; it is because the plan sets out the construction of more cost rental and social homes. However, at the launch speaker after speaker said that this plan will increase home ownership. The plan sets out to continue to decrease our home ownership levels, albeit for honourable reasons as I said, but that was the first bit of spin on this.

The second bit of spin was the constant reference to the increase in funding and the €4 billion per annum that would be spent. The ESRI has been strong and clear in saying we need to go from €2 billion in Exchequer capital funding on housing to about €4 billion, but that is not the way that €4 billion figure has been arrived at. There was €3 billion of Exchequer funding allocated in the 2021 budget for housing with €2 billion on the capital side and about €1 billion in Housing Finance Agency loans. That is where we arrive at our €4 billion. There is no additional capital funding in this plan. We will see some increase on the capital side in the budget but it will not bring us from €2 billion in Exchequer funding up to €4 billion, as a lot of people are now expecting from the spin that was brought out at the time of the launch.

On the land value sharing measures in this report, let us be very clear this does not amount to the implementation of the Kenny report. It is better than doing nothing and we should be trying to capture land value in terms of funding infrastructure, but that will not bring land on stream at affordable costs to ensure more affordable housing. It will mean more funding for infrastructure from the Exchequer. How that works out with development levies being taken away as a balancing measure to that remains to be seen.

There is far too little emphasis in Housing for All on the serious skills deficit we have. In terms of our wet trades in construction apprenticeships, we are only at about 10% of our 2004 peak, particularly in areas such as bricklaying and plastering. There is an over-reliance in the Housing for All strategy on the idea that this will all be sorted with international labour.

Climate action and dealing with matters such as cement and carbon from housing and the need to have a circular use of materials are weak in the plan.

I hope the climate action plan will address those matters.

The plan allows for at least €1 billion in subsidies for developers from shared equity and other measures. All it gives people who are homeless, in emergency accommodation or sleeping on the street is a mere 20 additional new Housing First tenancies, increasing from 220 a year to 240 a year. That is far too few and we could do much better. I ask the Government to re-examine that and to look to at least double the number of Housing First tenancies a year from the current 220 so we can make proper headway on that.

See this speech in context