Dáil debates

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Housing Provision

10:50 pm

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know the Deputy does not and she is not advocating its use as it is. The HAP scheme was only ever meant to be a short-term housing solution for people as they moved to more permanent housing.

Without the HAP scheme, 60,000 families would not have houses. I acknowledge that the Deputy and I will never agree on that, but it is the reality. There should only ever be a short-term need for HAP as the recipient moves on to a permanent home, which can be delivered on the Emmet Road site through a cost-rental project and through social housing. It is always the intention that HAP is not a long-term solution and that is as it should be.

These cost-rental model houses are not aimed at the top 30% of households. They are aimed at those who are just above the threshold for social housing and who cannot qualify for it. They might be in a job that pays them the average wage or thereabouts, resulting in a take-home income of €53,000. We are aiming at that cohort of people, and if the project is developed correctly, we can do that.

It is about keeping down costs. One of the methods to ensure cost-rental homes are affordable to this moderate income cohort relates to the use of direct State support. We can subsidise and reduce these costs in the home's construction. This can include the provision of public land at no or low-cost, upfront capital grants from the Executive and State assistance with loan financing, as well as the European Investment Bank reducing the cost of borrowing. All three of these methods have been made available by the Department to support this project, with the provision of land by Dublin City Council, the approval of a serviced sites fund grant from the Department of €18.7 million, the full funding of the social housing homes within the development and the potential assistance of the European Investment Bank and the Housing Finance Agency in helping to facilitate a long-term low-interest loan to fund the remainder of the development costs. Already, therefore, many of the costs have been reduced. It is important that from here on we keep those costs to a minimum in order that we can deliver this project for the cohort in question and ensure it will be affordable to them. I reiterate that they are not aimed at the top 30%, as I am sure the Deputy will appreciate.

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