Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 18, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on housing met nine times in 2021 and met again on Monday, 24 January. The next meeting is planned for Thursday, 3 March. This committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of the programme for Government commitments regarding housing and related matters. The focus of recent meetings has been on implementation of the Housing for All plan. Housing for All is the most ambitious housing plan in the history of our State and contains a range of actions and measures to ensure more than 300,000 homes are built by 2030. This figure includes 90,000 social, 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost-rental homes. The plan is backed by the highest ever State investment in housing.

Last week, the Government published the second quarterly progress report, for quarter 4 of 2021. It shows significant progress towards the fundamental reform of the housing system, setting the course to increase significantly the supply of housing and provide a sustainable housing system into the future. Recent data from the CSO show that, despite the disruption caused by Covid in 2021, a total of 20,433 new dwellings were completed in the year, with a significant pick-up in apartment development. The pipeline data are also strong, with more than 30,000 commencements in 2021, the highest since 2008. Of 213 actions in Housing for All, a total of 123 either have been completed or are being delivered on an ongoing basis.

We have introduced measures, such as Project Tosaigh, to activate existing planning permissions and accelerate delivery of houses in key strategic locations. It is clear that the sector is rebounding from what has been a very difficult two years and we are confident that the target for delivery of 24,600 homes in 2022 will be met. Employment is back to pre-pandemic levels and apprenticeship registrations are increasing significantly. An international recruitment campaign will get under way shortly to further bolster capacity in the sector.

The actions outlined in the plan are backed by over €4 billion in annual guaranteed State investment in housing over the coming years. It is clear we also need to attract up to €10 billion of private capital into the market each year to meet our targets and ensure we deliver social, affordable, cost-rental and private homes at the substantial scale required right across the country. Through Housing for All, the Government has implemented a number of measures to make homes more affordable to buy or to rent. The new local authority home loan is open for applications, the help-to-buy scheme has been extended, we are scaling up the delivery of cost-rental homes and rent in rent pressure zones has been capped at 2%, or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. We are also continuing to support our most vulnerable, those experiencing homelessness and those who have more complex housing needs. The Cabinet committee will continue to focus on delivery of the Housing for All plan.

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