Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to examine the report, Monitoring Adequate Housing in Ireland, and to discuss the significant progress made to date on the serious issues highlighted within it. I note the Minister of State's remarks in that regard.

The research, published jointly by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute, has shown that lone parents and their children account for 53% of homeless families and are much more likely to experience inadequate housing than other household types. The report also highlights the disadvantage experienced by young people, migrants, people with disabilities, Travellers and others in the Irish housing system.

While I note the reductions in homelessness in recent months, the recent increase in the homeless figures will be of serious concern to the Government. Significant improvements have been made since homelessness was at its highest two years ago but a huge amount of work remains to be done and we recognise that.

Budget 2022 allocated €194 million to homeless services and the Government is committed to ending homelessness by 2030. The Government’s focus on increasing housing supply was evident in budget 2022. Next year, for example, €4 billion of Exchequer funding, supplemented by Land Development Agency funding and Housing Finance Agency lending, will be made available to deliver 9,000 new build social homes and make 4,130 homes available for affordable purchase and cost rental.

In my constituency of Dún Laoghaire, a significant public housing development has been completed at Enniskerry Road in Stepaside. The scheme includes cost-rental and social housing units. A total of 597 badly needed homes will be constructed at the former Shanganagh Castle site in Shankill. This public housing scheme, which is being developed in partnership between the Land Development Agency and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, will deliver 91 affordable purchase homes, 306 cost-rental units and 200 social homes.

Cost-rental homes are a new form of renting and will result in more affordable rents for households which struggle to pay private rents but earn above the threshold for social housing. The new Shanganagh development is currently the country’s largest proposed cost-rental scheme. These new homes will include 51 terraced, semi-detached and detached houses and 546 apartments. They will be a mix of two four-bedroom, 99 three-bedroom, 302 two-bedroom and 165 one-bedroom units and 29 studio apartments. The Minister is committed to progressing this and other badly needed public housing schemes and I look forward to working with him and his officials to increase the supply of public and private housing.

I welcome today’s announcement on private rents in Dublin. It will come as a relief to renters. However, there are issues around securing a home to rent. Higher costs remain and will be resolved by an increase in supply. I welcome the measures in Housing for All in this regard, particularly the zoned site tax, which will penalise property owners who sit on zoned serviced land.

The report we are discussing, which is welcome, raises the challenges encountered by people with disabilities in securing appropriate accommodation. It found that 29% persons living with a disability experience housing quality issues, when compared with those without a disability. People with disabilities are also more likely to report an inability to keep their home warm and arrears on rent or mortgage payments.

All Members of this House will be aware of the challenges faced by people with disabilities when trying to secure social or private housing. This issue needs to be addressed and I will continue to work on it with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Ministers responsible for disability. Housing policy must address the needs of our society, particularly its most vulnerable members. The restricted options for older people and people with disabilities are among the most pressing issues. I welcome the pathways detailed in the Housing for All strategy to support these vulnerable groups and others. I also welcome the commitment to publishing a new national housing strategy for people with disabilities and I look forward to working with the Minister of State and Members across the House.

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