Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I apologise because I had expected to have a little more time to work on this but the debate arrived a little early for me. Before I summarise, I will try to address some of the points raised by Deputies. Again, I thank all Deputies for their contributions and thank the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the ESRI for this very important report. I want to emphasise that this report is very useful to the Government in terms of our response to Housing for All through housing delivery and through targeting vulnerable groups, such as Travellers and minorities. It is critical that we take the learning and the experience that people have brought to this report to inform how we better deliver sustainable housing for all communities. We are taking it seriously.

The point on data was made by Deputy Ó Broin in his opening comments. Improvements are taking place within the Department around data gathering and the use of data. With regard to future data collection, the Department is taking on board the point that there are a number of groups where no housing data are collected and there is no ongoing national survey in regard to background, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation. Research has shown that migrants are diverse in terms of education and employment outcome. Despite this diversity, there are few migrant categories available in the data and the status of second generation migrants and refugees is not captured. It is similar with the data regarding the Traveller community, so it is important we take the findings from this report.

Deputy Andrews and I have spoken about this issue and there has been some email correspondence in regard to the State regeneration fund. It is my understanding that this fund was increased, not decreased, but we are getting correspondence back to the Deputy in that regard.

I take on board the points made by Deputy Andrews. Like him, I agree on the value of these Dublin city flats, which are very important, in particular the older design flats from Herbert Simms. It is important that we celebrate the communities that are living in them and give adequate support to Dublin City Council to do that. That is what the Government is doing.

In regard to the points made by Deputy Boyd Barrett around disability, the local authority is tasked to have a disability steering group and to set targets and local strategies as mandated in Housing for All. Under action 7.6, the housing disability steering group should report quarterly on implementation of local strategic plans regarding housing people with a disability to the chief executive officer and to the strategic policy committee. Local authority housing delivery action plans are due to be delivered to the Minister by the end of 2021. These plans should set out how dedicated social housing provision appropriate to the needs of people with a disability will be delivered, matching the scale and extent of housing need identified for people with a disability.

I point to my constituency and the decongregation of St. Patrick's in Kilkenny, in particular the fantastic work that was done in collaboration by St. Patrick's and Kilkenny County Council in providing supported housing for people with disabilities. That type of project and initiative can and should be replicated across the country.

In regard to the Traveller community, I want to deal with the issue of funding for Traveller-specific accommodation and the very different ways the Traveller community seeks housing support. Again, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, is very much dedicated to implementing that. Reference was made to the Ombudsman for Children’s report, No End in Site, which was published recently. The Department is in ongoing communication with the relevant local authority to provide the necessary supports to ensure the recommendations contained in the report are implemented in a timely manner. Again, I am very conscious of the challenges facing the Traveller community in accessing appropriate accommodation.

I hope I have covered the points raised. In my closing speech, I will try to capture as much of what was brought forward by Deputies, in particular the issues around methodologies, data and taking this report seriously, which we certainly are.

I thank Deputies again for their valuable contributions to this important debate. The report has provided us with an opportunity to discuss and debate key principles and priorities in the provision of adequate housing and the realisation of sustainable communities. These priorities were central to the development of the Housing for All strategy and the delivery of this plan will be essential to addressing the issues raised in this report.

With that in mind, I wish to reflect on the actions my colleagues in the Government will continue to deliver on to provide adequate housing. My colleagues and I are keenly aware that the lack of supply is exacerbating the problems raised in the report. Increasing the overall supply of housing is the essential component to our plan. We have set an ambitious target for the delivery of homes of all tenure types, and the whole-of-government approach to the delivery of Housing for All will ensure we meet these targets to boost supply and address this core issue. We have provided an unprecedented level of funding to address affordability challenges and to boost supply throughout the country to more than 300,000 new homes by 2030. Despite the significant challenges raised by Covid-19 and Brexit, we are on track to increase the number of homes delivered annually. We have a long-term actionable plan set in place to increase the number of affordable homes and routes to access affordable housing, as demonstrated by programmes such as the affordable housing fund and the first home scheme. We understand the affordability challenges in the rental sector need to be addressed quickly and efficiently. Today the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, received approval to introduce a measure to prohibit rent increases above 2% annually, and over the past year he has introduced several measures to directly provide a more secure market for renters in our communities.

This report highlights those who are most vulnerable to homelessness in our society, such as lone parents, young people, and people with disabilities. Housing cannot be a one-size-fits-all fix. We will provide access to appropriate and adequate housing to suit these needs. We have committed to the Lisbon declaration to end homelessness by 2030. Housing for All and budget 2022 follow through on this crucial commitment with their allocation of substantive time and money to this challenge to ensure fair access to homes for all. We are pleased to say progress continues to be made in this area, and that determination will continue until homelessness is eliminated in our society.

We understand the need to provide housing options that adequately meet the cultural needs of those who live there. As such, we are steadfast in our ambition to provide Traveller-specific accommodation where appropriate and address the unique difficulties and challenges the Traveller community faces when accessing homes. This commitment further extends to working alongside colleagues in government to improve the conditions of those who have come to this country to seek safety and security. In light of the State’s recent involvement with COP26 and commitments to meet the worldwide climate crisis, it is essential to mention the future of housing needs to be environmentally friendly to be considered wholly adequate. Of the 300,000 homes to be delivered by 2030, every single one will be nearly zero energy. An extensive retrofit programme was also introduced by the Government last year.

This report gives us an excellent opportunity to reflect on where we can make improvements to our policies and acknowledge the huge achievements we have made so far, while acknowledging all the contributions this evening from Members and the significant challenges that face us into the future. We will deliver affordable, high-quality and secure housing that meets the cultural and material needs of all of our citizens. We will continue to welcome research that can aid in our strategy to tackle the housing crisis and we agree that better data is central to assisting our understanding of housing issues and informing our work on housing policy. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, is looking forward to the opportunity to have an in-depth discussion on the report with the chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, Sinéad Gibney, which will take place in December, and I and my Department will reflect further on the points raised here tonight. There will be other opportunities for Deputies to contribute to this important report and the Minister is committed to giving detailed consideration to it and to responding to the points raised this evening.

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